BAA staff set to strike over wages August 12, 2010 UK AIRPORTS are set to face chaos in the coming weeks after BAA staff in the Unite union voted three-to-one in favour of strike action yesterday. Unite, which represents two-thirds of BAA’s workforce, said the vote showed the firm’s offer of a one per cent basic pay rise was “derisory”. Union heads will meet on [...]
Taking on Sky is a risky Vision for BT August 9, 2010 INthe run up to the new football season there is a fascinating encounter taking place off the field as BT Vision tries to take on the might of BSkyB in the showing of live football. BT Vision, boosted by a ruling from the regulator on the price that Sky can sell its sports channels to [...]
BT says sports package has a good take-up August 9, 2010 FIRST blood was drawn by Manchester United against bitter rivals Chelsea in the new football season last weekend. But a battle of equally epic proportions is heating up off the pitch, with BT claiming its new sports package, which is significantly undercutting Sky, is building momentum. BT Vision chief executive Marc Watson told City A.M. [...]
Sky has already seen off challenges from rivals Setanta and ITV Digital August 9, 2010 BT SAYS its sports offering is the first step in an aggressive expansion into pay-TV it hopes will eat away at Sky’s dominance of the market (at last count Sky was tantalisingly close to 10m subscribers, while BT is languishing with less than 500,000). But BT would do well to bear in mind the cautionary [...]
After waiting in the shadows, the telco sector is looking good August 9, 2010 SINCE the outbreak of the European debt crisis, analysts have sung the praises of the utilities sector. It had all the ingredients to be recession- busting: utility stocks tend to be anti-cyclical, they hold up well when other stocks tumble and they provide a reliable dividend. But as the global economy emerges from recession, some [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 4, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES DIPLOMATS TO BECOME SALESMEN The job description for Britain’s ambassadors is to be rewritten to include tough targets for trade promotion and a requirement for the country’s top diplomats to tour the UK’s regions to showcase commercial opportunities abroad. As well as gliding through the corridors of foreign ministries and cultivating contacts with [...]
Competition probe hits Sky Movies August 4, 2010 SKY will face an investigation by the Competition Commission into the dominance of its pay-TV movie service. Ofcom has requested the probe after raising concerns over the prices Sky is able to charge for new releases and the lack of consumer choice. The Competition Commission will have a maximum of two years to investigate the [...]
Corporate pensions shortfall shrinks £26bn as assets heal August 1, 2010 RECOVERING equity values and rising corporate bond yields have shaved £26bn from the combined shortfall of the UK’s 200 largest private defined benefits pension schemes. The retirement funds’ deficit narrowed from £100bn to £74bn between June and July, according to risk management firm Aon Consulting. Trustees of schemes run by corporate giants such as BA [...]
Sky smashes expectations as HD fuels surge in demand July 29, 2010 BSKYB is in touching distance of achieving 10m subscribers after announcing it made a net gain of 90,000 customers in the fourth quarter. In a strong set of results the subscription TV giant announced that demand for its HD content has surged, with 429,000 users signing up in the last three months. Adjusted revenue for [...]
BT profit climbs by 17pc despite tough trading July 29, 2010 BT shrugged off difficult trading conditions in the wake of government cuts to match expectations in its first quarter. The telecoms giant, which last month declared war on Sky with its entry into the lucrative Premier League subscription market, reported first quarter revenue of £5bn, down four per cent on the year before. However, rigorous [...]