Boris Johnson set to unveil £5bn full-fibre broadband boost September 29, 2019 Boris Johnson is said to be preparing a subsidy of up to £5bn in a much-needed boost for his plans to roll out full-fibre broadband across the UK by 2025. The Prime Minister could unveil the fresh funding at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this week, the Sunday Telegraph reported, citing industry and Westminster [...]
Broadband firms pledge to cut prices after Ofcom review September 25, 2019 Major UK broadband providers have pledged to cut prices for out-of-contract customers after Ofcom carried out a review into the market. Sky, BT and Talktalk have all agreed to allow customers whose initial contracts have ended to get the same deals as new customers when they renew their contracts. Read more: BT leads push for [...]
BT Group ‘leads push for timetable’ on Britain’s big broadband switch September 18, 2019 BT Group and other broadband infrastructure firms are said to be holding talks with the government about a timetable for switching off copper broadband services. In a move that would echo the switch-off of analogue TV signal in 2012, BT is reportedly spearheading the initiative, which has been under discussion with other firms, regulators and [...]
No respite for BT investors as shares sink again August 6, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. BT shares continue to fall after first quarter results do little to dispel fears over its dividend. After a torrid year for followers of Britain’s best-known stocks, first quarter results from BT Group (LSE:BT.A) have done little to ease their fears that the telecom group’s dividend is next for the chop. While last week’s figures [...]
Vodafone dividend cut: which UK shares might be next? May 28, 2019 | City Talk By Tom Bailey from interactive investor. Vodafone's cut might be a canary in the coalmine for FTSE 100 shares. Over the past year the market has increasingly cooled on Vodafone (LSE:VOD). The company has a long list of problems, including the high cost of 5G investment, being squeezed by competition on the continent and high [...]
Ofcom rules BT’s Openreach must give rivals greater access to broadband network May 24, 2019 Britain’s biggest telecoms firm BT will be forced to give rival networks more access to its Openreach infrastructure under proposed Ofcom rules, in a bid to encourage a faster roll out of high-speed fibre cables. Read more: Openreach to hire 3,000 new engineers for full-fibre rollout Rivals can currently only use Openreach telegraph poles and [...]
How long will luck last for Centrica’s 13% dividend yield? May 23, 2019 | City Talk Times are hard and the yield screams danger, but Centrica has not cut the payout. Next results are key. The press was awash with stories predicting a nasty cut to Vodafone (LSE:VOD) dividend before it published full-year results. Few would be surprised. But BT (LSE:BT.A) kept shareholders on side by committing to its generous payout, and Centrica (LSE:CNA), one of [...]
Lloyds Bank stars as FTSE 100 rockets in Q1 April 9, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a great first quarter for stock markets, we assess the best and worst blue-chips of 2019 so far. It’s been a storming start to 2019 for the FTSE 100 index, with popular interactive investor stocks including Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), Next (LSE:NXT) and Tesco (LSE:TSCO) among those on [...]
May called business chiefs to reassure over latest change in Brexit negotiation plan April 3, 2019 Theresa May last night tried to reassure bosses at some of Britain’s biggest firms, including Rolls-Royce, BT and GlaxoSmithKline, about her latest change in direction on Brexit negotiations. The PM hosted a call with the co-chairs of her business councils last night, shortly after announcing she would look for another extension to Article 50 so [...]
Dogs of the Footsie 2019: 10 shares yielding 6 per cent plus March 23, 2019 | City Talk By David Budworth from interactive investor. Here are the 10 high yielders that make it into this year's Dogs of the Footsie investment strategy. It's time to reset our Dogs of the Footsie portfolio, selecting the 10 highest-yielding shares of the FTSE 100 index. Around half of 2018's portfolio is carried over on to this [...]