Ofcom feels the heat over sports ruling March 31, 2010 OFCOM faced a fierce backlash to its landmark ruling yesterday as broadcasters and sporting bodies rounded on the embattled regulator. BSkyB vowed to carry out its threat to fight the ruling through the courts, hiring high powered City law firm Herbert Smith. The decision means the wholesale prices Sky is allowed to charge rivals including [...]
Miners and banks boost FTSE 100 March 31, 2010 STRONGER miners and banking stocks outweighed falls from defensive stocks to leave Britain’s top share index slightly higher by the close yesterday while BSkyB gained after an expected pay-TV review from Ofcom. The FTSE 100 index ended 7.32 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 5,679.64 having closed 0.7 per cent lower on Tuesday and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 29, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BIG INVESTMENTS BOOST UK’S GREEN SECTOR The prospect of thousands of new “green” jobs in the UK as part of a drive for a low carbon economy came a step closer with two big investments in the environmental sector. Siemens, the German industrial giant, became the fourth wind turbine manufacturer to announce that [...]
Shares in ITV jump after ad rule change March 29, 2010 ITV shares leapt almost five per cent on news the channel could be allowed to restrict the amount of adverts it shows, potentially pushing up prices. The move is part of a shake-up of broadcasting rules being undertaken by regulator Ofcom. It is designed to help broadcasters hit by a fragmentation in the TV ad [...]
TalkTalk walks the walk March 29, 2010 SOMETIMES the sum of the parts is worth more than the whole. The demerger of Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk is the logical step for a company whose level of growth and evolution had started to trip itself up. TalkTalk fared well in trading today. The UK’s number one residential broadband provider, supplying over 4m homes, [...]
Sports bodies ready for ruling March 28, 2010 SPORTING bodies and TV networks are gearing up for an Ofcom ruling, expected this week, that could cap the wholesale price Sky can charge its rivals for Premier League matches. Bodies such as the Premier League and the Rugby Football Union have voiced concern their revenues could be hit by the ruling. However, analysts are [...]
Mobile charges to be slashed March 28, 2010 AFTER a review of the cost of connecting mobile phone calls from one network to another, Ofcom has ruled that UK mobile phone companies will have to cut their charges by at least a billion pounds a year. The regulator is expected to set rates from 2011 to 2015 that will see charges fall from [...]
Digital radio switchover risks backlash March 28, 2010 AN information blackout on Britain’s switch to digital radio in 2015 could create a massive public outcry, according to the House of Lords Communications Committee. Britain will move from FM to digital in five years time but according to the Communications Committee the general public and retailers have not been properly informed about its impact. [...]
Sky worried despite likely revenue boost March 23, 2010 BSkyB could generate additional revenue of more than £700m if it is allowed to sell Premier League football through Freeview. In a move described by Sky as a “sop”, Ofcom is likely to allow the broadcaster to go ahead with a project dreamed up in 2007 codenamed “Picnic”. This would involve setting up a subscription [...]
Ofcom allows competitors access to BT’s new internet fibre lines and ducts March 23, 2010 RIVAL Internet service providers will have access to BT’s new fibre lines via a so-called virtual network or they could lay their own fibre in the telecom firm’s ducts under new proposals from the regulator. Ofcom said yesterday it would propose allowing competitors to have access to new fibre lines laid by BT, at a [...]