Three-O2 deal: Virgin Media urges Europe to allow £10.5bn merger as Vodafone blasts Hutchison’s price freeze pledge February 5, 2016 Virgin Media has come out in support of the proposed £10.5bn deal between Three and O2, even as rival Vodafone blasts it as “re-monopolisation” of the telco market. Virgin is calling on the EU’s competition watchdog to approve the deal, following pledges made yesterday to open up the combined network to other players. A deal [...]
Spotify down: Now the music streaming service is having technical issues across Europe with track skipping February 3, 2016 Spotify is down for some users across Europe. Users of the music streaming service have reported that it is down completely, while others said there were issues with tracks skipping. Spotify is down…………………… pic.twitter.com/CYW4jvxKcw — Rob🏌️♂️ (@rbrtmcmxcii) February 3, 2016 For every minute Spotify is down in our office our collective productivity drops by 10%. Exhibit [...]
BT down: Internet broadband and phone services across the UK return February 2, 2016 BT has said that customers' internet and phone services have been restored after they went down yesterday afternoon. The telecoms firm had major issues with thousands of people across the UK reporting their broadband was down. According to downdetector.co.uk, problems were reported across the country from around 2.30pm. Around 70 per cent of the issues were internet related but 12 [...]
BT’s share price rises as it reveals new structure after EE acquisition – and the mobile brand is staying (for consumers at least) – as revenues reach seven-year high February 1, 2016 BT has unveiled sweeping changes to its structure, following the completion of its £12.5bn takeover of EE last week, as the business reports its best revenues in more than seven years. Although some had predicted the demise of the EE brand, the mobile firm will continue in its current form as far as "the consumer market [...]
BT completes £12.5bn EE deal today – and the sector’s M&A activity could be a good thing for consumers who want more from their providers January 29, 2016 So it’s finally official: BT now owns EE. The result is a telecoms market that looks very different this morning than yesterday, with BT gaining access to the one in three UK mobile users already on EE. Existing EE customers can expect to see some exciting offers over the coming months as BT tries to persuade them to [...]
BT’s share price climbs as it completes EE deal – creating UK’s biggest telecoms firm – but Ofcom’s decision on Openreach yet to be made January 29, 2016 BT's share price climbed this morning as it completed its £12.5bn takeover of EE today, in a deal that makes it the biggest telecoms firm in the UK. The deal, which gives BT instant access to around one in three mobile phone customers in the UK, is expected to help pave the way for the [...]
FTSE 100 index rebounds as oil prices climb and miners rally January 26, 2016 The FTSE 100 index closed up on Tuesday as the price of oil rebounded and mining stocks began to rally. The UK's blue-chip index rose 0.59 per cent to 5,911 points, led by Anglo American and Glencore as the price of oil staggered back over $30 a barrel. "A short-squeeze in crude oil has dragged markets out [...]
FTSE 100 index falls as the price of oil slides again January 25, 2016 The FTSE 100 index fell on Monday as the price of oil slid once again. The UK's blue-chip index closed 0.39 per cent down at 5,877 points, led lower by banks, BT and Kingfisher “The FTSE started up about 17 points at 5917, but as soon as oil came off its better levels of $32.60 down to [...]
EU referendum: New YouGov poll finds big companies and startups want to stay in the EU while small businesses more divided January 25, 2016 The majority of bosses at Britain's biggest businesses want the UK to remain in the EU, even if their companies have not publicly stated a view on the issue, according to new research out today from YouGov. YouGov polled leading figures from 11 FTSE 100 organisations, three FTSE 250 firms, and two larger private companies. The executives surveyed included senior management [...]
Cross-party report says BT should be forced to sell Openreach January 23, 2016 A report backed by 121 cross-party MPs says that BT should be forced to sell Openreach due to poor performance. The report, published by the cross-party British Infrastructure Group (BIG), said that Openreach, the country's leading broadband provider, had only partially extended superfast broadband, despite £1.7bn of government money. Read more: BT Openreach boss Joe Garner steps down [...]