The lawyer who has built his career breaking down barriers November 3, 2013 Stephen Kon, the new co-deputy chairman of King & Wood Mallesons, tells Elizabeth Fournier how years at the forefront of European law have left him ready to take on China LAST Friday, Stephen Kon joined a new law firm, one with a very, very long name. Overnight, the senior partner of London-based SJ Berwin (SJB) [...]
UK superfast broadband rollout reaching 72 per cent of homes October 24, 2013 NEARLY three quarters of UK homes are ready to receive superfast broadband, according to an annual Ofcom report. The number of customers using the superfast speeds has doubled over the past year, reaching 4.8m UK customers this year. “Superfast broadband is rolling out fast across the country, and 4G mobile will reach at least 98 [...]
Cameron risks coalition split on green taxes October 23, 2013 THE RIFT in the Coalition widened yesterday, after Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to “roll back” the green energy levies strongly supported by the Liberal Democrats. His coalition partners dismissed the announcement as a panicky policy that had been “made up on the hoof…by a party getting cold feet on the environment”. According to [...]
Ofcom takes on price hikes with new set of rules October 23, 2013 TELECOMS regulator Ofcom has ruled that consumers will be able to ditch their mobile, broadband or landline contracts if providers raise prices during the contract, however the ruling could spell the end of cheap iPhones on contract. Telecoms operators often increase prices during a contract in order to deal with rising costs and inflation. “We think [...]
Homeserve’s British boss steps down after 13 years at the firm October 23, 2013 THE BOSS of Homeserve’s British business is stepping down after 13 years at the embattled boiler repair and insurance firm. Jonathan King is quitting to pursue a non-executive career, the firm announced yesterday. He has steered the firm through several investigations into its selling practices, which saw the firm fined £750,000 by Ofcom last year. [...]
Ofcom offers new protection against mid-contract price rises October 23, 2013 Individuals and businesses will be allowed to leave their landline, broadband or mobile contract without a penalty if their provider increases the cost their monthly deal. Ofcom announced on Wednesday that it will instruct providers how to interpret and apply, telecoms sector rules with regard to price rises during fixed-term contracts. Ofcom also confirmed the [...]
Reform the regulators to ensure markets work in the consumer’s interest October 17, 2013 WHEN should governments intervene in markets? George Osborne recently described the Help to Buy scheme as a “necessary intervention” to fix a specific market failure – the shortage of high loan-to-value mortgages. Aside from concerns that this may pump up a housing bubble, Osborne’s comments – and Ed Miliband’s earlier proposal to inject more competition [...]
Ofcom could hike network fees next year October 10, 2013 MOBILE operators could see the annual fees they pay to use radio spectrum increase 400 per cent, according to a proposal from Ofcom yesterday. The fee increase could lead to higher mobile phone bills if operators decide to pass on the increases to consumers. Ofcom plans to hike the bill for 1800Mhz frequencies from £40m [...]
Mobile operators clash with Ofcom over price hike October 10, 2013 Regulator Ofcom may introduce new licensing fees which could quadruple the cost of using existing mobile spectrum. Speaking to the BBC operators said the increase was "excessive" and Vodafone said it was "disappointed" with the proposals. Ofcom believes the increase was justified based on comparable fees in other European countries. The current prices for the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 3 October 2013 October 2, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES FBI raid $1bn Silk Road black market US authorities have seized more than $3m worth of Bitcoins after closing down Silk Road, the online marketplace that allegedly allowed more than a billion dollars of illegal drugs and illicit services to be bought using the virtual currency. As part of the raid, the Federal [...]