Ofcom refuses Virgin Media’s request to delay Premier League rights broadcast auction February 4, 2015 Ofcom has refused a request made by Virgin Media to delay the auction of Premier League broadcast rights. The high-stakes bidding for the rights to broadcast the UK’s biggest football games will now continue as usual and is expected next week. Virgin Media is not making a bid for the rights, but the auction is [...]
TalkTalk trips as costs fall slower than anticipated February 3, 2015 TALKTALK was bruised in morning trading yesterday after it revealed an unsuccessful IT project and additional costs from its takeover of BlinkBox would hit its full-year profit forecast. “Two broad things have led us to guide that we will be towards the bottom end of current market expectations,” TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding told City [...]
Virgin Media calls on Ofcom to delay £4bn Premier League TV auction January 28, 2015 Virgin Media last night made an 11th-hour bid to block the Premier League’s multi-billion pound auction by calling on media regulator Ofcom to use its emergency power to halt the bidding which is currently expected to conclude next Friday. Virgin, which met with Ofcom two weeks ago to discuss a separate ongoing competition investigation into [...]
Mobile market activity booms as Sky eyes deal with O2 or Vodafone January 26, 2015 Mobile consolidation is set to be a hot topic again this week as European pay-TV operator Sky has been linked in talks with O2 and Vodafone to launch its own mobile offering on one of their networks. The talks come as BT races to finalise more details around its £12.5bn takeover of EE, which it [...]
As Three’s owner eyes up O2, will more sector consolidation prove negative for consumers? January 25, 2015 Kester Mann, principal operators analyst at CCS Insight, says Yes. A move from four mobile operators to three will undoubtedly raise concerns among UK consumers that they’ll end up paying more for mobile services. Indeed, evidence in other European markets, notably Austria, points to an increase in prices following similar in-market consolidation. Mobile users in [...]
Telefónica to sell O2 to Hutchison Whampoa for £10bn January 23, 2015 Telefónica has confirmed it is in exclusive talks with Chinese company Hutchison Whampoa to sell O2 for £10bn, a deal which would revolutionise the landscape of the UK's mobile market. In a statement this morning, Telefónica said the deal would take the form of an initial payment of £9.25bn, followed by deferred payment of £1bn, to [...]
Three owner Hutchison Whampoa to buy O2 for £1Obn January 22, 2015 Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica is set to pick up more than £10bn by selling O2 to Three’s parent company, Hutchison Whampoa. Telefonica has been in talks to sell its British mobile business for months. The Hong Kong-based group, which is owned by Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, emerged as a frontrunner to take the company [...]
Ofcom puts BT under pressure to cut broadband cost to rivals January 15, 2015 Ofcom yesterday warned BT that it might be forced to raise broadband prices for customers or slash what it charges rivals to use its network, under tough new tests. The proposal is designed to ensure that BT cannot price rivals such as Sky and TalkTalk out of the market. Under current rules, BT allows rivals to [...]
Will David Cameron’s refusal to take part in TV debates damage his electoral prospects? January 14, 2015 Mike Smithson, editor of PoliticalBetting.com, says Yes As an incumbent Prime Minister facing an opposition leader with as poor personal ratings as Ed Miliband’s, it has been apparent for a long time that the best outcome for David Cameron would be for no debates to take place. This is the case all the more so [...]
Young adult Facebook users to decline over next three years January 14, 2015 Market research group eMarketer is predicting that there will be “almost” no new UK users aged 12 to 24 joining the social behemoth in the next three years. In addition, the number of users aged 18 to 24 will fall annually between 2016 and 2018, the group claims. Between 2015 and 2018 the [...]