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 [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MOD TALLIES COST OF CUTTING PROJECTS The Ministry of Defence has instructed its equipment managers to calculate the cost of cancelling all individual programmes in the latest sign of the budget squeeze it faces. The directive, issued in the past two weeks, underlines that no programme, even if under contract with industry, is [...]
OH, FOR THE DAYS BEFORE PURITANS WIELDED THE BUDGET BRIEFCASE… March 22, 2010 BUDGET Days, under New Labour, have become a decidedly austere affair in recent years – and not just because the public finances are spiralling out of control. Alongside bringing a battered red briefcase to the House of Commons, the incumbent chancellor is traditionally allowed to drink from a glass of his favourite tipple while presenting [...]
Sky may sell Premier footy on Freeview March 21, 2010 BSKYB could soon offer pay-per-view Premier League games and movies to customers through their set-top box. Broadcast watchdog Ofcom is expected to change the rules to allow the new venture this week as part of a massive shake-up of broadcasting laws. The ruling would allow Sky access to millions of homes that do not currently [...]
Freeview could be a poisoned chalice March 21, 2010 THE outcome of Ofcom’s long-anticipated review of the pay-TV market is the world’s worst secret: it will almost certainly make BSkyB slash the amount it charges rivals to show its premium content. Less attention has been given to the ways in which Ofcom might placate Sky. Allowing the pay-TV giant to access customers via the Freeview [...]