Calls for mobile operators to give guarantees over rural ‘not-spot’ proposals June 6, 2019 Campaign groups have called on mobile operators to give guarantees for consumers and businesses over plans to tackle so-called rural not-spots. Consumer group Which and four rural organisations have penned a letter to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) calling for legal obligations to ensure operators improve 4G coverage in rural areas. [...]
Ofcom boss Sharon White chosen as next John Lewis chair June 6, 2019 Ofcom boss Sharon White is set to replace Sir Charlie Mayfield as the next chair of John Lewis, taking on the role as the retailer battles to recover from a recent plunge in profits and tough trading conditions on the high street. White, who is currently chief executive of the UK’s communications regulator, is set [...]
BT to close 90 per cent of its UK offices June 5, 2019 BT Group will shut offices in more than 270 locations across UK as it seeks to cut £1.5bn in costs. The telecoms company is to slash its number of offices across the UK by 90 per cent, leaving just 30 open. In some locations, existing buildings will be refurbished while in others BT will move [...]
Firms to make it easier for mobile and broadband customers to switch June 3, 2019 Broadband, phone and pay TV companies have signed up to a string of new measures that will ensure customers are treated fairly, as regulator Ofcom continues its crackdown on poor customer service. BT, Vodafone, O2 and Sky are among the companies that have committed to helping customers get a good deal and switch providers easily [...]
HMRC cracks down on number spoofing scams in fight against fraud June 1, 2019 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has put a block in place on numbers that were using spoofing tactics to impersonate genuine tax officials. Fraudsters had been using so-called number spoofing so that when calling people it would appear as HMRC’s actual phone numbers on their display. Read more: City of London Police apologises after diamond [...]
Netflix raises prices by 20 per cent as it blames $15bn production budget May 30, 2019 Netflix is raising the prices of some of its subscriptions by as much as 20 per cent as it prepares to ramp up investment in new TV shows and films. The streaming service is increasing the cost of its standard plan, which allows users to watch on two screens, by £1 to £8.99, while the [...]
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 [...]