Life on Mars? Cornwall’s Goonhilly Earth Station gets £8m funding to help find out February 22, 2018 Is there life on Mars? A communications station in Cornwall has been given millions of pounds in funding to help find out. Goonhilly satellite Earth Station, famous for beaming the images of the moon landing across Britain, has landed £8.4m to upgrade its facilities so that it can support contact between earth and missions to [...]
BT says it has not overpaid after beating Sky to UEFA Champions League rights March 6, 2017 BT has won the battle to secure the UK TV rights for European Champions League football for the next three years in a deal that will cost the telecoms giant £1.2bn and dismissed suggestions it has overpaid for them The deal, announced this morning, means BT will continue its coverage of Europe's premier club football competition until the [...]
BT to create 1,700 new jobs in a bid to bolster Britain’s boffin status March 2, 2017 BT will create 1,700 new apprenticeship and graduate positions in push to train up the UK's youngsters. The firm today announced the new positions which, it said, would boost "tech literacy within the UK so that the country remains a digital leader". "Young people today need three basic skills – reading, writing, and tech know-how," [...]
BT and Ofcom’s Openreach deal: Here’s how City analysts, competitors and consumer groups reacted March 10, 2017 BT and telecoms regulator Ofcom this morning announced that they'd settled their differences over the future of Openreach, the company that owns the majority of Britain's telecoms infrastructure. It's been a long road for both parties, and it did appear that Ofcom was going to be forced into going to European authorities to force through [...]
BT unanimously backs Rio Tinto chair Jan du Plessis to deal with “continuing challenges” March 9, 2017 BT has announced Rio Tinto's Jan du Plessis will take over as chairman of the telecoms giant from November. Du Plessis succeeds Sir Mike Rake who will step down after 10 years in the job. He admitted it was "an important time" for BT while Rake highlighted the new chairman will face "continuing challenges". The FTSE 100 firm [...]
BT “overshadowed” by Italy accounting scandal as it takes profit hit January 27, 2017 BT has announced a profit slump in the third quarter to the 31 December, after revealing earlier this week that it was forced to write down the value of its Italian unit by £530m after years of "inappropriate behaviour". Read more: BT Europe boss Corrado Sciolla leaves after accounting scandal The figures Pre-tax profits fell 37 per cent to [...]
FTSE 100 closes lower as the pound sterling (GBP) rises and company results disappoint February 23, 2018 The UK’s blue-chip index closed slightly lower today as investors picked apart a string of companies’ full-year results. There were a couple of reasons for the FTSE’s decline today though, according to Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex. “Primary among them was the fact sterling found itself 0.2 per cent higher against the dollar [...]
Hello, Jan du Plessis: BT set to tap Rio Tinto boss as new chairman March 5, 2017 BT Group is expected to name Rio Tinto boss Jan du Plessis as its new chairman. Du Plessis has emerged as the frontrunner for the role, beating HSBC group chairman Douglas Flint, according to the Sunday Times. Du Plessis has also served as chairman of SAB Miller and overseen its sale to Belgian-Brazilian beer firm Anheuser-Busch [...]
UEFA Champions League auction: BT and Sky prepare bids but could others come to the party? February 28, 2017 BT and Sky will go head-to-head in a near billion pound battle over the UK television rights for European Champions League football. A tender process kicks off with bids needing to be in tomorrow to secure the rights that also include the Europa League and will run for three years starting from the 2018/19 season. BT Sport is the incumbent provider [...]
BT share price rises as it agrees solution with Ofcom after “long and challenging” debate over the future of Openreach March 10, 2017 Shares in BT were up more than three per cent as the market opened, after it emerged it will retain control of broadband provider Openreach, although the company will be carved out. Watchdog Ofcom announced this morning the "biggest reform of Openreach in its history is set to conclude" after the FTSE 100 firm met [...]