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OneWeb denies Russian investment

OneWeb, which wants to place at least 600 satellites into orbit and supply the planet with broadband service, has denied it wants Russia to take a stake in the business. Reuters reported the original story that the would-be satellite operator wanted to bring Russia into its scheme. Reuters said that that discussions with Russian prime […]

January 2, 2019

HMV enters administration

UK entertainment retailer HMV has entered administration for the second time in six years. A Statement from HMV’s owner Hilco Capital said the HMV Board had resolved to appoint Administrators from KPMG to the business following extremely weak Christmas footfall and a further deterioration in the UK market for CDs and DVDs. HMV’s 125 stores […]

January 2, 2019By Colin Mann

Zegona withdraws Euskaltel tender offer

London-based investment house Zegona Communications is not proceeding with its partial tender offer to acquire up to a maximum of 14.9 per cent of the outstanding share capital of Spanish convergent operator Euskaltel at a price of €7.75 per share, citing a deterioration in equity market conditions since announcing its intention on October 19th. Since […]

December 27, 2018

Alliance promotes blockchain in entertainment industry

A growing consortium of Hollywood and International entertainment companies have formed the Blockchain Global Entertainment Alliance (BGEA) with the goal to promote blockchain technology adoption for the entertainment industry and develop common standards and best practices in the entertainment blockchain movement. The BGEA is a non-profit alliance designed to educate all forms of entertainment companies […]

December 20, 2018By Colin Mann

Scottish investor for SpaceX

SpaceX has raised a reported $500 million in fresh funding. One portion of the cash injection comes from Scotland-based investment management firm Baillie Gifford. Baillie Gifford is also the largest investor (7 per cent, and worth some $4.6 billion) in Musk’s Tesla electric car business. The fresh cash places a market value on SpaceX of […]

December 20, 2018By Chris Forrester

Ofcom plans rural connectivity boost

Mobile and broadband coverage are improving in the UK, but too many rural areas still get a poor signal – according to Ofcom’s major study of the UK’s communications networks. Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report shows that mobile coverage continues to increase. Almost all homes and offices can get a good, indoor 4G signal from […]

December 18, 2018

BBC ‘commercial subsidiaries efficient and fair competition’

The BBC Board has published a review into its own commercial subsidiaries. The review by EY has found that the BBC’s three wholly-owned commercial businesses – BBC Studios, BBC Studioworks and BBC Global News – exhibit commercial efficiency in line with their peer groups and the wider market, fit with the BBC’s mission and public […]

December 17, 2018By Colin Mann

Watchdog: ‘EastEnders refurb not value for money’

The BBC’s E20 programme, to replace and enlarge the external set of long-running soap opera EastEnders and improve various infrastructure at BBC Elstree Centre is now forecast to cost £27 million more, and take an additional two and a half years to complete, compared to its plans in October 2015, according to a report from […]

December 13, 2018

OneWeb could save $1bn+ by trimming satellites

The OneWeb ‘mega-constellation’ of low orbiting broadband satellites, originally planned to be around 900 in total, will now initially be around 600, says founder and Executive chairman Greg Wyler, and reported by specialist publication Space Intel Report (SIR). In the process, OneWeb will save an estimated $500,000 per satellite (and it could be more) leading […]

December 13, 2018By Chris Forrester

Liquid Telecom to invest $400m into Egypt

Liquid Telecom, which started life as the satellite service operator Econet Satellite Services, is to invest some $400 million (Rand 8 billion) into Egypt and its infrastructure and data centres. The investment is being made into Telecom Egypt, and was announced at a signing ceremony in Sharm el-Sheikhn at the Africa 2018 Forum. Liquid Telecom […]

December 12, 2018By Chris Forrester