Oil prices shoot up as Opec agrees its first production cut since 2008 November 30, 2016 Investors piled into oil futures and related stocks yesterday evening after Opec defied expectations and revealed a deal to cut production by 1.2m barrels a day. Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices soared as the Saudi Arabia-led cartel announced its first agreement since 2008. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will reduce [...]
Virgin Media catches up to rivals with its first 4K TV set-top box November 30, 2016 After much teasing and trailing, Virgin Media has finally launched its first ultra HD 4K TV set-top box. Virgin – whose owner Liberty gave the company its backing post-Brexit vote – is joining the likes of rivals Sky and BT in pushing 4K content to the masses, offering four times the resolution of high definition broadcasts. The TV [...]
British industrial veteran enters race for Tata chairman top job November 29, 2016 Sir George Buckley, the chairman of FTSE-100 engineer Smiths Group, could be appointed chairman at Indian conglomerate Tata. Sky News reported that last night that Buckley has been approached about replacing Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted from the chairmanship of Tata Sons last month – before getting in to a public spat with Tata executives. Sir [...]
Addison Lee pumps £7.5m in to training after splashing out on new cars November 29, 2016 London private car hire firm Addison Lee is pouring £7.5m in to driver training. The company – which is battling against US upstart Uber for market share – claims it’s the largest ever private investment in driver training in the industry. The fresh spending follows Addison Lee plugging £17m into new cars earlier this month, purchasing [...]
Sky dives into mobile market with “flexible” contracts but steers clear of content offers November 29, 2016 Pay-TV operator Sky has unveiled details of its long-awaited mobile service. Available to Sky staff already and rolling out gradually to pre-registered customers and then to the wider market early next year, the service is aiming to offer what the company has called a "flexible" mobile subscription plan. Sky will then begin offering handsets to users [...]
Aim-listed satellite internet group transmits higher full year forecasts November 29, 2016 Satellite Solutions Worldwide (SSW), an Aim-listed rural and last mile broadband provider, is expected to reveal its full year earnings for 2016 will be ahead of expectations. The group is set to publish a trading update for its full year to 30 November this morning. “The rapid and successful integration of the acquisitions which we [...]
CityFibre plans to roll out its fibre network across business parks in 20 cities by next year November 29, 2016 Broadband infrastructure challenger CityFibre is to roll out its full fibre network to 20 cities in 2017 as part of new plans announced today. The scheme is intended to reach some 600 business parks across CityFibre’s 40 city footprint. CityFibre is planning on growing to 100 towns and cities by 2025 across the UK. “By [...]
BT appoints former Ofcom board member as Openreach chairman November 28, 2016 BT has appointed former Ofcom board member Mike McTighe as the first chairman of its infrastructure arm Openreach. McTighe, who takes up his role from January, spent eight years on the board of the communications watchdog and will oversee the new Openreach board – which will operate from early 2017. The communications regulator is currently [...]
Three leads new campaign to curb BT’s mobile network dominance November 28, 2016 Some of the UK’s telecom challenger brands are teaming up to lobby the communications watchdog over BT’s dominance over the airwaves. Three UK is leading a group – that includes TalkTalk, CityFibre, and Relish – which is calling on Ofcom to prevent one mobile network owning more than 30 per cent of the UK’s mobile spectrum. [...]
Sky gears up for launch of mobile service with price details this week November 27, 2016 Details of Sky’s long awaited move in to mobile are expected to be fleshed out this week The pay TV giant will unveil its mobile phone subscription packages designed to complete its so-called quadplay offering, meant to encourage existing customers to sign up for more services. Sky’s rivals fear it will try to undercut them [...]
