Electra waits for prices to fall as it builds up war chest to £400m November 28, 2012 UK listed private equity firm Electra Partners yesterday said expensive price tags on companies being sold had stopped it buying more firms this year after revealing solid numbers in its full year results. The firm, which has holdings in motor car insurer esure and caravan park operator Park Resorts, said the chasm between buyer and [...]
BT makes plans to appeal Sky’s controversial sports pricing win November 27, 2012 BT has announced plans to appeal a controversial competition ruling over the price Sky is able to charge other broadcasters for its sports channels. The telecoms company said it had asked permission to challenge August’s decision from the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which stopped Ofcom from forcing Sky to lower the prices it can charge [...]
Ofcom announces proposals for white space mobile broadband November 22, 2012 CITY-WIDE Wi-Fi networks could be launched by the end of next year, the communications regulator said yesterday, as it published proposals to free up unused parts of the airwaves for internet signals. Ofcom said that it was opening a consultation on “white spaces” – the gaps in between bands of spectrum used to broadcast TV. [...]
ITV and Channel 5 to get new licences but must offer more November 21, 2012 VIEWERS of Downton Abbey might be used to dramatic cliffhangers, but yesterday the threat of another plot twist was removed, after the culture secretary renewed Channel 3’s broadcasting licence for another 10 years from 2014. Culture secretary Maria Miller said that the extension for Channel 3 and Channel 5 will secure around £800m in investment [...]
Three says no thanks to 4G as customers rise November 15, 2012 THE UK’S fourth-largest mobile operator, Three, signed up a million extra customers in the last year, putting a dent in its rivals’ numbers. Announcing the figures yesterday, Three outlined a plan to bolster its current network rather than focus on the 4G technology that others are pursuing. This raises the possibility that a January auction [...]
BBC Trust bashes together plan for director general succession November 15, 2012 THE BBC Trust met yesterday to put together a plan to appoint the next director general following George Entwistle’s weekend departure, with the most likely solution appearing to be a direct approach for a former candidate. “They decided that there was a pressing need to make an appointment as soon as possible,” one source close [...]
Ofcom sets out the rules for 4G airwaves sale November 12, 2012 BRITAIN will have wider access to high-speed 4G mobile services from late spring next year, the communications regulator confirmed yesterday, as it published final terms for an auction of airwaves to be held in January. The auction of 4G-approved spectrum, some of which was previously used for analogue TV signals, will raise at least £1.3bn [...]
It is time for the BBC to allow its viewers freedom to choose November 12, 2012 WHAT a mess. The BBC, Britain’s most powerful and influential media company, is in crisis; the resignation of its director general hasn’t been enough to halt the chaos. Radical changes are needed to reform, strengthen and preserve the BBC; if Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, doesn’t want to introduce them then he [...]
It is time for the BBC to allow its viewers freedom to choose November 12, 2012 WHAT a mess. The BBC, Britain’s most powerful and influential media company, is in crisis; the resignation of its director general hasn’t been enough to halt the chaos. Radical changes are needed to reform, strengthen and preserve the BBC; if Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, doesn’t want to introduce them then he [...]
BBC search for successor is on after boss quits November 12, 2012 THE SEARCH for a new head at the BBC started yesterday after George Entwistle’s dramatic Saturday night resignation left the broadcaster’s radio boss Tim Davie at the head of the organisation. Although he had not known about the Newsnight report that falsely implicated a former leading Tory as being involved in a child abuse scandal, [...]