Tory rural broadband promise under threat: BT Openreach talks close to collapse November 19, 2017 A Tory pledge to deliver better broadband to 1.4m rural homes is under threat of being delayed by years. Talks between Openreach and the government to agree on a £600m investment by the BT infrastructure arm are close to collapse, according to reports by the Sunday Telegraph. If an agreement with Openreach over its voluntary [...]
SSE teams up with Thames Water to lay fibre broadband in London’s Victorian sewer network November 14, 2017 A leading broadband provider believes it has hit the ideas jackpot in the battle to boost Britain’s broadband internet: it wants to lay fibre optic cables in London’s vast sewer network. Energy giant SSE, which has an established broadband infrastructure offering, has teamed up with Thames Water. It plans to tuck fibre cabling 10 metres [...]
Manchester City and Amazon: Why online video platforms want more sports documentaries November 12, 2017 Sports industry chatter has been dominated in recent times by the ever-looming prospect of tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook or YouTube outbidding traditional broadcasters for live rights and, in doing so, upending the consumption habits of fans. Yet while developments have undoubtedly been made in the digitalisation of live sport, neither Sky nor BT’s [...]
Ford VP Stephen Armstrong and BT Group chief executive Gavin Patterson warn over Brexit transition deal ‘certainty’ November 6, 2017 Bosses of Ford and BT have today ramped up their warnings over the need for clarity on Brexit, identifying early next year as the point of no return for a transition deal to be struck. Steven Armstrong, vice president of EMEA for Ford, said although the auto firm was “the poster boy” for globalisation it [...]
DEBATE: Can we blame tech companies for helping Russia spread fake news during the referendum campaign? November 6, 2017 Can we blame tech companies for helping Russia spread fake news during the referendum campaign? Olivia Utley, news editor at Reaction, says YES. The argument, which was widely accepted before the UK referendum, is that a split in Europe and a revival of European nationalism was in Vladimir Putin’s interests. It was widely believed – [...]
BT pension deficit could reduce by £4.4bn as expectations of an interest rate hike mount October 23, 2017 BT’s troublesome pension black hole is set to reduce by billions of pounds as expectations of an interest rate rise mount, analysts said today. Previously, consensus opinion has been that BT’s retirement deficit would swell from £8.7bn to around £11bn. But in a report by RBC Capital Markets, analysts said BT’s shortfall could halve to [...]
Hermes GPE raises $620m from pension funds to plough in to co-investment deals October 5, 2017 Hermes GPE, the firm which invests in private equity funds and deals, has raised around $620m (£472m) for its co-investment strategy. The fund raked in commitments from a club of pension funds, professional investors and asset managers – including the Local Pensions Partnership, a collaboration between Lancashire County Pension Fund and the London Pensions Fund [...]
Carillion Middle East suitor plots takeover attempt and prized London listing September 26, 2017 At least one Middle Eastern construction firm is eyeing Carillion’s update this Friday ahead of a potential takeover bid for the struggling builder. Final touches are being put to an offer from a new suitor to buy up Carillion’s shares and give the operator access to the firm’s London listing, City A.M. understands. The bidder [...]
Editor’s Notes: End of the road as Bell Pottinger shuts up shop, Jeremy Corbyn’s Venezuela shame and Old McDonnell had a strike September 8, 2017 For staff at Bell Pottinger the weekend probably can’t come soon enough. The disgraced PR firm’s fall from grace and into likely administration has been breathtakingly fast. For the 200 UK employees, the vast majority of whom had nothing to do with the scandal that sank the company, an uncertain few weeks await them. Some [...]
Why Liverpool’s Champions League qualification cost Chelsea and Manchester United over €10m in revenue August 24, 2017 Liverpool and Celtic both cruised into the Champions League group stage this week, costing Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham an average of €13m in the process. For Liverpool, the financial uplift from securing their place amongst Europe’s elite will be significant in prize money alone. The Reds and the Hoops both earned €2m [...]