Ofcom says BT merger with EE could harm other mobile firms July 19, 2015 Telecoms giant BT could be facing double trouble from the industry regulator, after Ofcom revealed concerns surrounding its proposed merger with mobile network EE. The planned £12.5bn takeover is being probed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which issued an update regarding the scope of its investigation at the end of last week. Ofcom [...]
Royal Mail’s share price just fell off a cliff as Ofcom revealed the scope of its review July 17, 2015 Royal Mail's share price has dropped this morning as Ofcom revealed the scope of its wide-ranging review of regulation for the business. Shares, which had been trading slightly up, suddenly fell off a cliff as the watchdog released its “discussion document” settting out its remit for the review. Royal Mail's share price was down [...]
BBC shows the strain over Tory reform plan: “Aunty has very much pulled up her sleeves” July 16, 2015 The BBC ramped up its fight with the government yesterday as a groundbreaking Conservative review threatened the broadcaster’s size, funding, content and regulation. Culture secretary John Whittingdale revealed a green paper on the future of the corporation, questioning whether it should aim to be “all things to all people”, attacking its “regressive” licence fee scheme [...]
Ofcom communciations review: What next for BT, Openreach, Sky and the telecoms market? July 16, 2015 While Ofcom’s latest move is no doubt being celebrated as a win by BT’s more than vocal rivals, it’s by no means a foregone conclusion that BT is heading for a breakup. Last time Ofcom reviewed competition, BT was forced to create Openreach in order to give access to its broadband network to rivals, something Ofcom [...]
BT share price dips as Ofcom considers spinning-off Openreach July 16, 2015 It's been months in the offing and the cause of various, vociferous complaints – but now communications watchdog Ofcom has finally come out with it: it's considering breaking up BT. In an outline of a review this morning the regulator said separating BT from its Openreach network "could deliver competition or wider benefits for end [...]
BBC charter review panel: Meet the eight people deciding the broadcaster’s future July 12, 2015 The government has selected a panel of independent advisors to lead a review of the BBC's royal charter, which will shape the future of the public broadcaster. An eight-person team of media professionals and experts, with backgrounds in broadcasting, production, technology and media regulation, have been chosen by the culture secretary John Whittingdale to conduct [...]
BT calls for Ofcom inquiry into Sky July 9, 2015 BT has called on industry watchdog Ofcom to expand its Digital Communications Review to tackle Sky's dominance of the pay-television sector. “Sky has benefited from a situation where there’s been very little or weak regulation,” John Petter, chief executive of BT’s consumer division, said in a speech to the Broadcasting Press Guild in London. "Sky [...]
Ofcom fines EE £1m over customer complaints failings July 3, 2015 Ofcom has fined EE £1m for failures over how the telecoms group handled customer complaints. The investigation into EE – which includes when it was trading as 4GEE, Orange and T-Mobile – found that between July 2011 and April 2014 the company did not provide certain customers with accurate or adequate information about their [...]
Younger viewers are turning away from traditional television viewing and watching Netflix and iPlayer instead July 2, 2015 Only half of young people are watching broadcasts through live television. The figures are from media watchdog Ofcom’s latest research into the state of Public Service Broadcasters, released today. It found that viewers aged 16 to 24 years old are increasingly using online, on demand, streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and the [...]
Sky says markets watchdog must look at BT Openreach June 30, 2015 Sky wants media regulator Ofcom to launch a full investigation into the UK’s broadband market and get the competition watchdog involved. Yesterday, Sky published the evidence it has submitted to Ofcom, which highlights what Sky considers to be the low quality service offered by BT’s Openreach division, which runs the UK’s telecoms network. Sky’s broadband [...]