Vodafone’s new CEO has had to take back his promise on the dividend as the board cuts it for the first time since 1990 as international operations suffer and 5G costs mount. Previously Nick Reid had said cost cuts, like selling off its towers, would mean it could retain its dividend. But the high cost […]
Recognising that changes in technology and the competitive landscape in recent years mean that the debate about a future digital transition programme for radio in the UK has shifted, Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, has confirmed that the government will begin a review of digital radio in the coming weeks to […]
Equity analysts from investment bank Exane/BNPP spent an intense week talking to industry executives as well as regulators in Washington, and taking advantage of the Satellite 2019 conflab. The result is a 15-page report which very much focuses on the prospects for the C-Band Alliance’s financially important release of some 180 MHz of C-band spectrum […]
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting by Telia Company under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the merged entity may shut out competitors from the audio-visual sector in Finland and Sweden. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The in-depth […]
A Committee of UK MPs has called for a “robust attack” on beoutQ, the Saudi Arabia-backed pirate TV operation, after it was revealed in Parliament that the illegal operation steals content from “100 UK based TV channels”, including the BBC. Giles Watling, a Member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) Select Committee led […]
A co-founder of Facebook has called for the US government to break up the company, warning that its power is “unprecedented and un-American”. Chris Hughes wrote in the New York Times that Facebook’s acquisition of rival platforms had given its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, unparalleled power over speech and that, from the early days of Facebook, […]
UK telco BT has raised its build targets for Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) from 3 million to 4 million premises passed by March 2021, with the ambition increased from 10 million to 15 million by the mid-2020s, subject to favourable regulatory conditions and policy decisions. The news came as BT announced its results for […]
Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into an allegation that China Global Television Network (CGTN), the international news channel of China Central Television (CCTV), aired a confession forced from a British private investigator while imprisoned in China. Ofcom said it would probe whether CGTN had broken the UK broadcasting code. In the UK, CGTN airs […]
Croatian network operator OiV has started testing DVB-T2 HEVC broadcasts after it received a licence from the Croatian Regulatory Agency for Network Activities (Hakom) and the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM). Croatia is preparing to switch free-to-air terrestrial broadcasting from DVB-T to the newer DVB-T2 standard. At the same time, it will introduce the H.265/HEVC […]
Spain’s largest TV groups Mediaset and Atresmedia are in conflict with regulator CNMC over its proceedings against them following alleged unfair advertising practices. The CNMC has refused to close the file against them without sanctions – as requested by the TV operators – and will continue to press forward with its case and possible record […]