Sky Sports attracts record viewing figures for second time in two months December 8, 2020 Sky Sports has thrived during the second national lockdown, breaking its audience records for the second time in two months. Sunday 29 November saw an average of 1.17m viewers and a peak of 4m tune in to the Sky Sports portfolio of channels. Drawing the record audience were a triple header of live football that [...]
Cisco snaps up London firm IMI Mobile in $730m deal December 7, 2020 US tech giant Cisco has agreed to buy London-based software company IMI Mobile in a $730m deal. IMI Mobile provides software and services for enterprise and its customers include BT, Hermes and O2. The tech firm will pay 595 pence per share in exchange for each IMI Mobile share, assuming fully diluted shares, net of [...]
Government backtracks on full-fibre broadband rollout pledge November 25, 2020 The government has backtracked on its pledge to bring full-fibre broadband to the whole of the UK by 2025. The promise to reach all premises across the country with gigabit-capable speeds was a key part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s manifesto at the last election. But in its national infrastructure strategy published today, the government [...]
Telecoms providers must beef up their cybersecurity for the 5G age November 24, 2020 As this 5G digital revolution gathers pace we must prepare the communications networks on which this technology depends so they are secure and resilient
Telecoms firms to face hefty fines under new Huawei laws November 24, 2020 UK telecoms companies will face hefty fines if they fail to comply with the ban on Huawei under a new law submitted in parliament today. In July the government announced a total ban on Huawei, ordering network providers to remove all equipment made by the controversial Chinese tech giant by 2027. Under the new legislation [...]
BT boss Philip Jansen hints at sale of Openreach stake November 20, 2020 BT has opened the door to a sale of a stake in infrastructure division Openreach as the telecoms giant battles a declining share price. Chief executive Philip Jansen said he was “open minded” about offloading a stake once a regulatory review into full-fibre networks has been completed next year. “We feel — I feel — [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Cricket meets hip-hop; Germany exports VAR; and the ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’ goes global November 19, 2020 Cricket and hip-hop aren’t obvious bedfellows but they cosied up this week when South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi joined Jay-Z’s talent stable Roc Nation. Ngidi, South Africa’s player of the year in one-day and T20 internationals, is the first cricketer to sign with Roc Nation Sports. Roc Nation has snapped up mostly American athletes, [...]
Huawei sells Honor smartphone brand as US sanctions bite November 17, 2020 Huawei is selling its budget smartphone brand Honor to a newly-formed consortium of Chinese buyers after US sanctions pushed the division to the brink of collapse. The Chinese tech giant said it will offload Honor’s business assets to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co, a group of over 30 agents and dealers, including several state-owned [...]
Vodafone hails ‘resilient’ first half despite Covid challenges November 16, 2020 Mobile giant Vodafone this morning hailed a “resilient” performance in the first half, saying that it had “increased confidence” in its full year outlook. Group revenue at the world’s second biggest mobile firm declined by 2.3 per cent to €21.4bn, with the acquisition of Liberty Global’s assets in Germany and Central Europe offset by lower [...]
Government’s digital strategy cannot be a missed opportunity November 12, 2020 Why is there no British tech titan on the scale of Google, Apple or Amazon? This is a question that has exercised the minds of those in and outside of government for some time. Many have concluded that more needs to do done if the UK is ever going to create a $1 trillion home [...]