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Apax, Bain gatecrash PT bid



Private equity firms Apax Partners and Bain Capital have made a €7.075 billion offer for the Portuguese assets of  Oi, the Brazilian telecoms group, rivalling the €7.025 billion bid from Altice, the European cable group and the bid from Isabel dos Santos. Oi, the largest landline carrier in Brazil, said that the joint offer included […]

November 12, 2014

BT TV, Infinity and Netflix for £5.99

BT is launching a new package that brings together BT Infinity, Netflix, BT TV and a free YouView box, for a monthly fee of £5.99 (€7.63) for the first 6 months. Customers signing up to Netflix with BT TV will see Netflix integrated into their BT bill, a first for Netflix in the UK, enabling […]

November 10, 2014

Republicans plan comms law update

Republican politicians are seeking to carry out a major overhaul of the rules governing the US phone, TV and Internet sectors after winning control of Congress in the midterm elections. Updating the Communications Act is understood to be a key priority for Senator John Thune who is expected to take the reins of the influential […]

November 10, 2014By Colin Mann

Santos bid to derail Altice Oi-PT

Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of long-serving Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, and a major shareholder in Portuguese pay-TV service provider Nos, has bid €1.211 billion for Portugal Telecom SGPS, the holding company that owns a minority stake in the merged Oi-Portugal Telecom. The bid follows Numericable-owner Altice’s €7 billion bid for the Portuguese […]

November 10, 2014

Telcos ‘could lose half their customers next year’

Telecoms operators can be sure to keep only about half of their existing customer base over the next 12 months, according to Ovum’s major global survey, 2014 Telecoms Customer Insights. About a quarter of all users globally say they will definitely change providers, with another quarter indicating they may do so. “The research provides one […]

November 7, 2014

TalkTalk halves triple-play prices

TalkTalk has cut the cost of its TV, broadband and calls packages to half price for 12 months. TalkTalk’s Essentials TV package will now be £4.25 a month plus line rental, while Plus TV – TalkTalk’s YouView TV bundle – will be £9.25 a month plus line rental. The deal provides a saving of up […]

November 4, 2014By Nik Roseveare

Altice makes €7bn Portugal Telecom bid

Multinational cable and telecommunications company Altice has made a binding, fully-financed offer to purchase the Portuguese assets of Portuguese quad-play telco Portugal Telecom from Oi, the largest telecommunications company in Brazil and South America, both in terms of subscribers and revenues. These assets comprise the existing business of Portugal Telecom outside of Africa and excludes […]

November 3, 2014By Colin Mann

US lags on broadband speed

Findings from New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) indicate that customers in the US continue to pay higher prices for slower Internet. Building on previous research regarding the relative cost and quality of broadband Internet access, The Cost of Connectivity 2014 examines broadband prices and speeds in 24 cities in the US and abroad. Looking […]

November 3, 2014

BT confirms Netflix deal

UK telco BT has confirmed that it is to make available Internet TV streaming service Netflix as part of its offering. BT revealed the initiative as it reported its Q2 results, which saw it add 38,000 TV customers in the quarter. “We continue to focus on strengthening our TV proposition and are excited to announce […]

October 30, 2014

Verizon bundles free Netflix

Verizon Communications will be giving all new customers in the US a free one-year subscription to Netflix if they subscribe to its FiOS triple play service. The announcement follows Verizon’s failed partnership with Redbox to start its own streaming service, Redbox Instant. The service was launched in March 2013 but was shut down earlier this […]

October 29, 2014