Even those EU referendum mail campaigns failed to push up Royal Mail’s letter volumes – but parcels rose July 19, 2016 It's a sign of the times that even one of the most controversial direct mail campaigns of recent years couldn't push up Royal Mail's letter volumes. Good job parcels were looking healthier… The figures In a trading statement today, Royal Mail said group revenue was up one per cent in the three months to the end of [...]
MPs slam BT: “Put house in order or face split” July 19, 2016 BT has been told to put its "house in order" or face a split by a leading group of MPs. The telecoms firm has been accused of "significantly under investing" in its Openreach broadband, potentially to the tune of millions of pounds a year and of favouring "interests and priorities" of shareholders over customers. An investigation [...]
BT under pressure from Ofcom to offer discount services to pensioners and poorest families July 17, 2016 BT is under pressure from the regulator to offer a discounted service to pensioners and low income families. The firm wants to move to internet-based voice calls, and away from traditional telephone lines. This would be relatively low-cost and allow BT to make savings, The Telegraph reported. Read more: Telecom giants come to blows over airwaves But Ofcom [...]
Blockchain startup claims funding “milestone” and big name board members July 15, 2016 London-based blockchain startup Setl has named two new high-profile board members after closing its first private funding round. Rachel Lomax, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and Ed Richards, the former chief executive of broadcast regulator Ofcom, have joined ex-Barclays chairman Sir David Walker on the board. Setl also said it would be [...]
These are the next areas that will get Virgin Media’s speedy fibre-to-the-premises broadband July 12, 2016 Virgin Media has named the next 30 rural communities which will gain access to its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. The areas are expected to be connectable via full fibre by spring 2017 and is the next stage of Virgin Media's Supercharging Local Communities initiative, part of its £3bn Project Lightning network. It's aiming to bring 300 mega-bits-per-second broadband to small businesses located outside major towns and cities. Virgin [...]
Telecom giants come to blows over airwaves July 11, 2016 An upcoming radio spectrum auction has become the latest battle ground for the UK’s warring telcos. Network operator Three, owned by China’s CK Hutchison, has called on the telecoms industry regulator Ofcom to limit how much of the radio spectrum its rivals can own. Three’s chief executive Dave Dyson wants the regulator to prevent any [...]
Ofcom: Sky garners few complaints across broadband, TV, mobile and telephone, but BT, EE, Plusnet fare badly July 8, 2016 Things aren't getting much better. The total number of complaints made to Ofcom in between the last three months of 2015 and the first three months of 2016 was stable – though, to be fair, there was a slight decline in pay-monthly mobile complaints. Sky consistently got less complaints than the industry average, while Virgin [...]
Gloves come off in telecom legal battle over fibre networks July 6, 2016 TalkTalk has criticised CityFibre’s decision to challenge Ofcom over fibre network access. Yesterday alternative network provider CityFibre complained to the competitions watchdog that new Ofcom rules allowing rival service providers such as Sky and Vodafone to connect their own equipment to parts of the Openreach infrastructure network – known as dark fibre – would prevent [...]
The Brexit camp has attacked two BT bosses after they wrote to staff emphasising their fears around a Brexit vote June 13, 2016 A former trade minister has savaged BT's leadership after it issued a firm-wide memo this week supporting the UK's EU membership. BT chairman Sir Mike Rake and chief executive Gavin Patterson teamed with the Communications Workers Union, and Prospect to issue the note, which sought to highlight their concerns, without explicitly encouraging staff to vote Remain in [...]
British business lost a billion pounds to cyber crime last year June 13, 2016 The cost of cyber crime to British business came in at £1bn last year but the true price could be even higher, experts have warned. The number of online fraud crimes jumped nearly a quarter for the year to March, with 37,070 reported to the City of London's national Action Fraud reporting centre, which is the central [...]