BT leads the FTSE 100 fallers on pension and regulation fears June 16, 2014 TELECOMS group BT dragged the FTSE 100 index down yesterday on concerns that it will be hit by an increase in its pension deficit and that Ofcom is preparing to crackdown on its wholesale pricing of superfast broadband. BT’s shares dropped 2.4 per cent, the biggest individual faller on the FTSE 100, with traders citing [...]
Mobile bills set to fall as Ofcom bids to cut costs June 4, 2014 TELECOMS regulator Ofcom has set out plans to slash the wholesale cost of connecting mobile phones, a move that could lead to cheaper bills for consumers. So-called mobile termination rates, the charges from operators for connecting calls to a different network, will fall thanks to a new charge control proposed yesterday. The new regulation would [...]
What you need to know before the open June 4, 2014 European markets are expected lower this morning, as stock futures were seen falling. Nervousness is building ahead of the European Central Bank’s anticipated measures, which’ll be revealed tomorrow. Regulator Ofcom has announced further imposed cuts to the cost of mobile phone calls, with a new charge control that’ll see calls to different networks fall to [...]
Ofcom set to slash mobile charges June 4, 2014 Telecoms regulator Ofcom has set out plans to cut the wholesale cost of connecting mobile phones. Charges from operators for connecting calls to a different network – known as "mobile termination rates" – will fall thanks to a new charge control proposed today. The new regulation would see termination rates fall to less than half [...]
Royal Mail share price drops 5pc as chief warns on threats to business May 22, 2014 Royal Mail has reported some pretty healthy full-year results, although fears for the long-term security of the business have been compounded by words of warning from chief executive Moya Greene this morning. The company, which floated last October, experienced a 83 per cent leap in reported profit before tax, to £1.6bn. Revenue increase two per cent, [...]
The stiff competition facing Royal Mail May 21, 2014 Ahead of its first set of full-year results as a listed company tomorrow, Royal Mail’s announced it’s going to trial delivering parcels on Sundays. Later this summer, it’ll open about 100 offices on Sunday afternoons for customers to pick up parcels. It’ll also pilot delivering parcels within the M25; and from June, Parcelforce Worldwide, its [...]
Market authority set to greenlight Sky Europe deal May 11, 2014 THE UK’s newly established Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday said it would likely greenlight a deal by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to consolidate its pay-TV European holdings were it to be approved by the EC. In 2010, European authorities approved News Corp’s bid to take full control of BSkyB. Murdoch is said to [...]
EE stung by cost of new rules but 4G numbers rise April 28, 2014 BRITAIN’S biggest mobile network EE now has over 2.9m customers signed up to its superfast 4G internet service and is aiming to exceed 6m by the end of the year. Despite the growth in 4G, EE’s revenues fell 3.6 per cent to £1.55bn as the operator added only 123,000 new contract customers during the three [...]
Best of the Brokers for 23 April 2014 April 22, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ENERGY ASSETS Numis gives Energy Assets an “add” rating and target price of 380p after the firm’s acquisition of the electricity metering business BGlobal for £2.3m on a debt free basis. Numis says the deal “provides the opportunity to cross-sell electricity metering services [...]
Watchdog set to probe BT’s fibre pricing April 14, 2014 BT IS PREPARING for a battle with the regulator to defend its wholesale pricing of superfast fibre to other operators such as Sky and TalkTalk. Last May TalkTalk complained to Ofcom, alleging that BT had been abusing a dominant position by making the wholesale price, that all providers pay, too close to its own fibre [...]