Ofcom: BT charging £1.7m EE bill to Openreach “inappropriate” November 17, 2015 BT has been slammed by Ofcom for trying to let its Openreach division foot part of the bill for its acquisition of rival EE, as the deadline draws near for the telco watchdog’s probe into the UK broadband market. Openreach, which controls the country’s broadband network, has been charged £1.7m for BT’s takeover of EE, [...]
BT Openreach boss Joe Garner steps down to move to Nationwide November 16, 2015 The chief executive of BT Openreach has handed in his notice, after he was offered a job leading high street lender Nationwide. It's not exactly classic timing: BT's local access network division is currently at the centre of a competition row. In a statement today, BT said Joe Garner will step down in the spring of 2016, [...]
Telco giants Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin and BT reignite broadband battle November 11, 2015 The war of words between the UK’s biggest telecoms giants reached new heights yesterday, as the clock ticks down on Ofcom’s probe into the broadband market and decision on whether to carve out Openreach from BT. With Ofcom due to reveal its verdict in January, Vodafone’s boss accused BT of trying to “re-monopolise” the sector, prompting [...]
BT’s broadband network dominance is bad for customers, innovation and the country November 10, 2015 The frustrations with Openreach expressed by Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao yesterday are shared by millions of customers and businesses as well as Sky. The current structure where one provider, BT, has complete ownership of the national broadband network has led to unacceptable levels of service, reduced competition, and a poverty of ambition in terms [...]
Northern Ireland has the UK’s worst mobile phone network coverage – but smartphone users in the South East are also suffering November 2, 2015 The South East may be one of the UK's most built-up areas – but it's also one of the worst when it comes to mobile network coverage, a new study has found. The research, by Cable.co.uk. found 29.3 per cent of people in the region experience a "notspot" – an area with no network coverage [...]
ITV’s Jekyll and Hyde could be too scary for Ofcom, after watchdog receives 459 complaints November 1, 2015 Tonight’s episode of ITV show Jekyll and Hyde is bound to be filled with frights, but things have become scary off-screen too. On Thursday, TV watchdog Ofcom announced it would be launching an investigation into the show, after receiving 459 complaints. Viewers complained that the content of the first episode of the show, which aired [...]
EU competition watchdog slams brakes on O2 merger with Three October 30, 2015 The EU’s competition watchdog has slammed the brakes on a proposed merger between O2 and Hong Kong investment group CK Hutchison, a takeover which would create the UK’s biggest mobile operator. The European Commission is launching an in-depth investigation of Hutchison’s proposed takeover over competition concerns. CK Hutchison, owned by Asia’s richest man Li Ka-Shing, [...]
EE’s Olaf Swantee plans to boost UK business by billions with push into business-to-business 4G October 28, 2015 EE is flirting more with the business-to-business sector, as the telecoms giant claims that better wifi could boost the UK’s companies by billions of pounds. The company’s chief executive Olaf Swantee said to City A.M. that this is an important growth sector for EE: We’ve shown what 4G can do for consumers, and now businesses [...]
Virgin Media hits out at BT and Sky over Premier League football TV rights deal October 21, 2015 Virgin Media has fired the latest shot in the battle of the broadcasters over the way TV rights for football games are sold. Research commissioned by Virgin showed that just six per cent of football fans said they were able to watch every match they wanted to on TV at home. Media watchdog Ofcom launched an [...]
Telecoms customer complaints have risen 35pc since 2012 October 21, 2015 It might not come as a surprise, but there are plenty of unhappy telecoms customers – 15,542 of them have complained over the past nine months, a 35 per cent increase over the past three years. The Ombudsman Services will release figures today showing that there has been a five per cent increase from this [...]