MacKenzie makes online sports move May 12, 2011 TALKSPORT founder Kelvin MacKenzie is preparing to go head to head with the commercial radio business he sold to UTV Media for £92m in 2005 by launching an online sports TV channel, Sports Tonight. MacKenzie (pictured), who pitches the web TV channel as “Sky Sports News meets TalkSport”, is soft-launching the venture with an estimated [...]
BT beats forecasts and reveals pensions boost May 12, 2011 BT posted a better-than-expected rise in fourth quarter core earnings due to cost cuts, strong broadband and enterprise sales and showed a huge improvement in its pension scheme. Britain’s biggest fixed-line services supplier, which has been hampered in the last two years by concerns over its pension deficit, said total revenues for the quarter were [...]
Huawei deal puts firm on the UK map May 9, 2011 HUAWEI yesterday announced a deal to enhance the 2G network of Everything Everywhere, a move that brings it closer to realising its ambition of becoming a major player in the UK. The four-year contract with the combined T-Mobile and Orange venture will allow faster mobile services over the network. It will allow Everything Everywhere to [...]
Ofcom may set price BT charges for infrastructure May 3, 2011 OFCOM chief executive Ed Richards says he may be forced to set the price BT can charge rivals to access parts of its infrastructure. The move could have far-reaching implications for the rollout of broadband to rural areas. Richards said he would prefer a “commercial” solution between BT and rivals such as Virgin Media for [...]
FTSE buoyed by upbeat corporate results April 26, 2011 Strong corporate results and positive broker research buoyed the FTSE today, leading the market to its highest close in more than two months. The FTSE 100 closed 0.9 per cent higher at 6.069.36 in low volumes following the long Easter weekend and ahead of a second four-day weekend to celebrate the Royal wedding and Mayday. [...]
Blow for BT as judge supports piracy law April 20, 2011 BT AND TalkTalk have lost a landmark legal case attempting to halt the Digital Economy Act. A judge dismissed their arguments on all but one of the legal points they had made. The decision could lead to thousands of internet users suspected of copyright infringement being bombarded with warning letters and even having their connections [...]
Virgin Media hits forecasts April 20, 2011 Cable operator Virgin Media said it added 20,200 net new cable customers in the first quarter, drawn by fast broadband speeds and pay-TV, helping it to post solid results in line with forecasts. Virgin Media, which competes with pay-TV company BSkyB and telecoms and broadband providers such as BT, said its customers were also paying [...]
Why Fujitsu’s broadband plan will probably fail April 18, 2011 GEEK SPEAK @Steve_Dinneen Fujitsu is planning to roll out superfast broadband to 5m rural homes. That’s good, right? Broadband for you, broadband for me, broadband for everybody. We can all meet in a chat-room and discuss how great it is that someone in a bothy in rural Aberdeenshire can download the back-catalogue of My Family [...]
City veteran tries insurance April 18, 2011 INVESTMENT banker turned industry leader John Nelson is to fill the large shoes left by Lloyd’s chairman Lord Peter Levene from October. A City grandee whose finance career started at Kleinwort Benson and continued at Lazard, where he ran its corporate finance division for 13 years, Nelson is now best known for his leadership of [...]
Fujitsu may not hit broadband target April 18, 2011 THE TRUE cost of rolling out fibre broadband to 5m homes in rural areas could dwarf the figures being discussed by Fujitsu, according to industry experts. Analysts at RBS have placed the cost of providing fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) to rural areas at around £4.5bn – far above the £1.5bn to £2bn projected by Fujitsu. The Japanese [...]