BT boss warns Ofcom’s indecision is costing UK November 20, 2016 Gavin Patterson, the chief executive of BT, has warned that indecision over its control of Openreach is costing the UK economy. The communications regulator Ofcom is currently weighing to what extent BT will have to separate Openreach after its consultation closed in October. BT has promised £6bn of investment over the next three years in [...]
These are the top 10 most transparent FTSE 100 firms – showing it pays (£24bn) to be open November 16, 2016 Sometimes, reading through the London Stock Exchange’s RNS feed, it feels as though certain companies just don’t want to be understood. Others, clearly, do: a new study has named the top 10 FTSE 100 companies for transparency. Arm, the Cambridge-based chip designer that was acquired by Japan’s SoftBank for £24bn this summer, was named as [...]
New Plusnet Mobile service will expand the company’s portfolio as a quad-play provider November 14, 2016 Plusnet announced today the launch of the UK’s newest mobile provider: Plusnet Mobile. The new mobile service from the Sheffield-based telephone, TV and broadband provider is the result of parent company BT Group’s acquisition of mobile network LIFE Mobile, part of the EE business. The new service will build on Plusnet’s award-winning portfolio and is [...]
Deutsche Telekom posts mixed results and remains unsure over Trump and Brexit November 10, 2016 Europe’s largest telcoms group Deutsche Telekom has posted a six per cent uptick in revenues for its third quarter, beating expectations. Deutsche Telekom – which now controls a 12 per cent stake in BT following the sale of its EE joint venture – saw shares track lower on the results however. The numbers Group revenues grew by [...]
The speaking clock will have a Scottish twang for the first time ever November 9, 2016 Wednesday 9 November is a date that will go down in history. Telecoms history, that is. For the first time in its 80 years of existence, the BT speaking clock is to have a non-English voice, after Dundee's Alan Steadman was chosen to lend his celtic tones to notify callers of the exact time. A nationwide competition was launched earlier this year [...]
BT investor calls for talks over Openreach arm November 6, 2016 A major BT shareholder, Aviva Investors, has called for the telecoms giant to open discussions about a possible sale of its infrastructure arm Openreach. BT has been fighting for control of its network division for the past 18 months, following repeated calls from its rivals that Openreach should be split out of the group. Aviva is [...]
Semi-finalists Manchester City earned more Champions League prize money than winners Real Madrid November 1, 2016 Manchester City earned more prize money for their run to the Champions League semi-finals last season than Real Madrid did for lifting the trophy. City received €83.9m from governing body Uefa for their best ever run in the competition – the highest payment of any club, including Real, who banked €80.1m for winning the title for a [...]
CenturyLink to buy Level 3 Communications for $19bn cash and stock deal October 31, 2016 Telecoms company CenturyLink is to buy Level 3 communications in a cash and stock deal to expand their fiber-optic network. Shares in Level 3, which provides internet services to Google and Netflix, were up around five per cent in pre-market trading, while CenturyLink's were down 11 per cent on the back of poor results last week. CenturyLink, a local phone service [...]
Reflections on my year as lord mayor – and why London will remain the world’s greatest city October 31, 2016 As I enter my final fortnight as lord mayor, I have spent some time reflecting on my year in office. I have been privileged to witness and support many areas of commercial progress during my international visits, domestic travels, and here in the City of London. I am also greatly looking forward to a number [...]
BT boss says “it’s quite possible” that 80 per cent of today’s jobs won’t exist in the future October 29, 2016 Gavin Patterson probably doesn't want to worry anyone but he thinks it's "quite possible" that 80 per cent of the jobs that people do today won't exist in the future. Yes, 80 per cent. Speaking at the HSBC Innovation Summit on Friday, the BT boss said: "It's a combination of ubiquitous networks, ubiquitous data, ubiquitous [...]