Online harms proposals will damage UK tech sector, tech giants warn May 30, 2019 Government plans to crack down on social media firms over the growing problem of online harms are unclear and will damage the UK’s digital sector, tech giants have warned. A scathing new report, seen exclusively by City A.M. and authored by the Internet Association (IA), which represents online firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter, has outlined a string [...]
Regulators mistakes cost customers £24bn over 15 years, study shows May 30, 2019 Brits have been overcharged a massive £24bn for their water, energy and telecoms over the past 15 years due to regulators’ mistakes, a new report has found. Citizens Advice said that “midjudgements” from regulators Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom had caused customers to pay far too much for pipes and wires connected to their homes. Read [...]
Netflix and Amazon cash in on British streaming market with double the revenue of UK services May 29, 2019 Netflix and Amazon’s revenues from UK streaming customers last year was £1.1bn, twice the amount the Britain’s biggest broadcasters made from their own streaming platforms. Netflix made around £693m in revenues from its UK subscriber base of 10m people last year, while Amazon generated £400m from 7.7m subscribers to its Prime Video platform. The figures, [...]
Ofcom rules BT’s Openreach must give rivals greater access to broadband network May 24, 2019 Britain’s biggest telecoms firm BT will be forced to give rival networks more access to its Openreach infrastructure under proposed Ofcom rules, in a bid to encourage a faster roll out of high-speed fibre cables. Read more: Openreach to hire 3,000 new engineers for full-fibre rollout Rivals can currently only use Openreach telegraph poles and [...]
Ofcom expresses concern over reality TV after Jeremy Kyle Show death May 21, 2019 Ofcom has expressed concern about the treatment of reality TV stars, a week after ITV axed the Jeremy Kyle Show following the death of a contestant. Appearing in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Ofcom chief executive Sharon White said the regulator is “particularly concerned” about the duty of care broadcasters have [...]
EE outage: EE resolves network issue that left users unable to make or receive calls over 4G May 21, 2019 EE customers were struck speechless today as the mobile provider suffered an outage leaving users unable to make and receive calls. Read more: Natwest online outage leaves customers unable to access accounts Voice calls over 4G were not working for thousands of customers this morning, though an EE spokesperson said most users should have seen [...]
MPs launch probe into reality TV following Jeremy Kyle Show death May 15, 2019 MPs have launched an inquiry into reality TV shows just hours after ITV axed The Jeremy Kyle Show following the death of a guest. The DCMS Committee said it will probe production companies’ duty of care to participants and ask whether enough support is offered both during and after filming. Read more: ITV revenues slip [...]
Firms forced to tell customers about cheapest mobile and broadband deals under new Ofcom rules May 15, 2019 Broadband, phone and TV firms will be forced to tell customers about their best deals under new rules unveiled today by Ofcom. The new regulations mean telecoms firms will have to notify customers when their contracts are coming to an end and lay out the best tariffs available. Read more: UK average broadband speeds rise by a [...]
‘Poorly designed’ 5G spectrum auctions risk harming consumers, mobile operators warn May 9, 2019 Multi-billion-pound auctions designed to flog 5G spectrum to mobile networks are badly-run and pose a risk to the rollout of the new technology, a new report has warned. Research carried out by the GSMA, the trade body for mobile operators, revealed auctions across the world can artificially inflate prices, meaning operators may have to limit [...]
Five things we learned from BT’s full-year results May 9, 2019 BT today published its eagerly-awaited results for the full-year, as investors kept a keen eye on the telecoms giant’s plan to turn around its ailing fortunes. After growing speculation over the company’s targets for full-fibre broadband and a potential dividend cut for beleaguered shareholders, here are five major takeaways from the results. Read more: BT boosts profits [...]