BT hits back at Ofcom over new broadband rule March 19, 2015 Telecoms giant BT slammed its industry regulator for taking a “lopsided” approach to the UK market. Industry watchdog Ofcom yesterday confirmed it was going ahead with a new pricing rule, coming into effect on 1 April. The rule means BT must maintain a sufficient margin between its wholesale and retail superfast broadband fees, in order [...]
Sky Sports subscription fees rise following record Premier League deal March 19, 2015 Sky Sports has raised its prices for subscriptions just weeks after winning the rights to a record £4.2bn Premier League TV deal. Sky’s average subscription price increasing by £2.50 per month, while the sports bundle will rise by £1 to £47 a month from 1 June onwards. The broadcaster paid £4.2bn for the rights [...]
BT fined £800,000 by Ofcom for deaf service failure March 17, 2015 British Telecom (BT) has been handed an £800,000 fine from media regulator Ofcom for failing to offer adequate services for hearing-impaired customers for five months. The fine relates to BT’s failure to bring in its Next Generation text relay system from between April and September 2014. The system translates voice-to-text on various devices, including PCs, [...]
Budget 2015: We need a second wave of the consumer revolution to restore faith in capitalism March 17, 2015 Today, the chancellor presents his last Budget before the General Election. With limited room for tax giveaways, and a need to show that the Tories are on the side of the “little guy”, it’s time for the second wave of the British competition revolution – to arm consumers to take on big business. Ed Miliband’s [...]
Salary cap rise on agenda after £280m TV deal March 16, 2015 ENGLISH rugby’s bumper new television deal with BT Sport could trigger further relaxation of the salary cap as Premiership chiefs ponder radical changes to the top flight. The amount teams may spend on player wages is already set to increase next season from the current limit of £4.8m plus one marquee player exempt from calculations [...]
Champions League: How Premier League clubs’ finances have been affected by European failures March 13, 2015 After Chelsea’s failure to beat a 10-man Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday left it looking increasingly likely that the Premier League will have a representative in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, English clubs’ deficiencies in Europe have once again been thrown under the spotlight. English clubs have not only been made to appear [...]
Digital probe sparks row over broadband as Sky and Talk-Talk press Ofcom to break up BT and Openreach March 12, 2015 A battle between the UK’s largest telecommunications businesses intensified yesterday, as Sky and Talk-Talk pounced on a decision by the regulator to launch a wide-ranging probe into the sector. Both firms ramped up pressure on Ofcom to break up BT from the part of its business – called BT Openreach – that runs the UK’s broadband [...]
Apprenticeship Week: We can celebrate a revolution in the UK’s skills market March 12, 2015 As many of us look forward to the weekend, I’m here reflecting on the eighth National Apprenticeship Week and the hundreds of events that have taken place across the capital, recognising how apprenticeships have transformed the skills market in the UK. As the mayor’s ambassador for training and enterprise, and as head of emerging talent [...]
Former Virgin Media exec Eamonn O’Hare plots telecoms raid March 4, 2015 The man who engineered Virgin Media’s $24bn (£15bn) blockbuster sale to Liberty Global has unveiled ambitious plans to take advantage of frenzied deal activity in Europe’s telecoms market. Ex-Virgin Media finance boss Eamonn O’Hare’s dramatic comeback, revealed last night, will involve raising cash in London to snap up struggling telecoms assets across the continent. [...]
Vauxhall Eyesore to be turned into flats March 4, 2015 BT’S KEYBRIDGE House in Vauxhall is to be transformed into an 129 metre-tall residential tower after the telecoms group completed the £92.5m sale of the brutalist building to Mount Anvil this week. The proposed red brick tower will house 400 flats and is due to be finished in 2018.