Former EE boss Olaf Swantee joins Vodafone February 11, 2021 Vodafone has appointed former EE CEO Olaf Swantee as a non-executive director. He will take up the post at the end of July. Swantee comes from Sunrise Communications, where he was CEO. The ex-EE boss will use his experience in the sector to benefit Vodafone’s Audit and Risk Committee. Vodafone chairman Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said: [...]
Screenshot: How Amazon set up shop on cloud nine February 5, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Parish the thought **How Amazon set up shop on cloud nine **Will BT look to the stars? Media Moment of the Week: Parish the thought Anyone who thinks local politics is boring has clearly never attended a meeting of the Handforth Parish Council Planning and Environment Committee. Or [...]
Revenue and profit fall at BT as coronavirus continues to hit telecoms giant February 4, 2021 Revenue at BT was down to £16bn in the first nine months of the financial year, a seven per cent drop that the telecoms giant put primarily down to coronavirus. Profit at BT for the nine months to 31 December fell by 17 per cent, to just under £1.6bn. Investors hung up on the company [...]
Scottish rocket company to clean up space debris from 2023 February 4, 2021 The UK could become a world leader in tackling space debris after successful trials of a ‘space tug’ align with a new UN space initiative, the Scottish rocket company behind the development said today. Skyrora said that its orbit transfer vehicle, part of its Skyrora XL rocket, could clear debris, reposition satellites and remove redundant [...]
Ofcom revokes Chinese broadcaster CGTN’s UK licence February 4, 2021 The media regulator has withdrawn China’s state-owned broadcaster right to broadcast in the UK following an investigation. Ofcom said the owner of China Global Television Network (CGTN) does not have control over its day to day output and is a distributor rather than a provider. Star China Media Limited “did not have editorial responsibility for [...]
Nokia growth knocked by losing part of Verizon 5G contract February 4, 2021 Growth at Nokia has been impacted by the firm losing part of the Verizon 5G contract in the United States to Samsung. Nokia’s new CEO Pekka Lundmark said in October that Nokia would do “whatever it takes” to take the lead in 5G. While both Nokia and its Nordic rival Ericsson have been gaining 5G customers [...]
Why Test cricket is back on Channel 4 and what it means for the future of sport on terrestrial TV February 2, 2021 For the first time since the heady 2005 Ashes series, Test cricket is returning to British terrestrial television. Channel 4 has bought the rights to show England’s tour of India, which begins on Friday in Chennai. But why is cricket back on a free-to-air broadcaster? Who stands to gain? And what does this mean for [...]
BT in talks with Oneweb over satellite broadband rollout February 2, 2021 BT is in discussions over the potential use of Oneweb satellites to help roll out broadband to the most remote parts of the UK. The telecoms giant is in early stage talks to explore how satellite constellations could be used to beam internet services to rural areas that are too difficult or expensive to reach [...]
The week ahead, 1-5 February: FTSE heavyweights front up to third lockdown January 31, 2021 After a turbulent opening to 2021, with new Covid-19 lockdowns around the world, spats over “vaccine nationalism”, and chaos on both Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, a slew of FTSE heavyweights are set to update the market in what will be a crunch week for London’s indices. Despite a strong opening week, the FTSE 100 [...]
Mobile networks to tackle rural not-spots with mast building plan January 27, 2021 Mobile networks O2, Vodafone and Three are teaming up to build hundreds of new masts as part of a push to tackle so-called signal not-spots in rural areas. The companies will build and share 222 mobile masts in an effort to improve 4G coverage across the UK. In total 124 sites will be built in [...]