DAREDEVIL CHIEF ROLET BRINGS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO FUSTY LSE September 17, 2009 XAVIER Rolet is certainly freshening things up over at the London Stock Exchange. The exchange’s new boss has been busy over the past few weeks, having shaken up the LSE’s marketing team, struck a deal to replace its IT provider and got rid of its trusted PR adviser Finsbury (the super-spinner and its arch-rival Brunswick [...]
O2 and BT team up for business September 16, 2009 Mobile network provider O2 said yesterday that it is teaming up with BT to launch its first fixed-line offering to businesses. Telefonica-owned O2 said its has partnered with BT Wholesale to create Joined Up, a new product which will provide business customers with mobile and fixed-line services, along with data, broadband communications, equipment and professional [...]
Ofcom lifts rules on BT sales September 15, 2009 OFCOM said yesterday that it will remove the last piece of regulation that has prevented BT from selling discounted fixed-line voice, broadband and TV packages. Other network providers – such as Virgin Media, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse’s TalkTalk – are already able to offer reduced rates to customers who take more than one of their [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 15, 2009 The FTSE 100 rose for a third straight session yesterday to close up by 0.5 per cent, boosted by bullish economic data from the US, as oils, miners and banks underpinned the rally. The index ended 23.28 points higher at 5,042.13, after trading as low as 4,996.52 earlier in the session. Energy stocks were higher, [...]
As the runt of the mobile litter, 3 will not survive September 10, 2009 AND then there were three. Or at least there will be, because Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 will find it extremely tough to survive following the merger of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK. That would leave what analysts are dubbing “T-Orange”, with a 37 per cent share of mobile revenues in the UK, O2 with 27 [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DOES THE T-MOBILE / ORANGE TIE-UP MEAN FOR COMPETITION IN THE MOBILE INDUSTRY? September 8, 2009 OLIVER THOMAS INSURANCE RISK PARTNERS “The merger doesn’t really worry me. There are still a number of service providers, and they all need to work together, so it is not like we are going to see a monopoly as such, like we had with BT. If there was more consolidation and less choice, then yes, [...]
Carillion gets an Openreach deal August 20, 2009 Building and outsourcing group Carillion said a joint venture it is leading has signed a letter of intent with BT Openreach for a £1bn support services contract. The firm said yesterday it expected to agree and sign the contract within the next two months. Openreach is BT’s local access network business. The contract will see [...]
The big kick-off is a blackout for some August 13, 2009 WITH the football season starting in earnest tomorrow, ESPN, the Disney-owned broadcaster, is proudly trumpeting its coverage on all four pay television platforms, BSkyB, Virgin Media, BT Vision and Top-Up TV. ESPN, which has taken over the rights to 46 live Premier League matches from the now defunct Setanta, agreed deals with all the main [...]
Rally ends as weak miners nudge FTSE down slightly August 10, 2009 THE FTSE 100 edged down yesterday, with investors booking profits from hefty gains in miners and banks last week, while the market searched for direction as the earnings season tailed off. The index ended down 0.2 per cent, or 9.36 points at 4,722.20, not far from a 10-month closing high of 4,731.56 on Friday. A [...]
Time to call a halt to the reporting season pile-up August 5, 2009 THE blizzard of blue chip companies reporting major results in the past fortnight has turned into an avalanche. Yesterday marked the last of the overwhelming diary days – at least for a while. The respite is a relief for the analysts tasked with producing research notes based on the results, not to mention shareholders and [...]