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“As a provider working in the fixed line arena for nearly 20 years we are used to the complexities and moving goalposts of Openreach’s compensation processes so are not surprised to learn that rules have been breached to avoid successful claims,” she said.

“While the fine reflects the significant impact that late installations have on businesses and was deemed a justified figure by Ofcom, I hope it will instigate the shake-up required to avoid such rule flouting in the future.

Openreach has already agreed to meet Ofcom’s demands to become a separate company – a step we wholeheartedly support and agree with – but as a telecoms provider that works with Openreach every day we only want it to succeed.

“Openreach needs to commit everything it can to significant nationwide fibre investment. To do that it needs all the resources it can get.”

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Once the agreement is implemented around 32,000 employees will transfer to the new Openreach Limited following TUPE consultation, and once pension arrangements are in place.

Openreach Limited will have its own branding, which will not feature the BT logo.

The Openreach CEO will report to the Openreach Chairman with accountability to the BT Group Chief Executive with regards to certain legal and fiduciary duties that are consistent with BT’s responsibilities as a listed company.

Gavin Patterson, BT Chief Executive, said: “I believe this agreement will serve the long-term interests of millions of UK households, businesses and service providers that rely on our infrastructure. It will also end a period of uncertainty for our people and support further investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure.

“This has been a long and challenging review where we have been balancing a number of competing interests. We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will work in the future.”

The transfer of around 32,000 employees, under TUPE regulations, will be one of the largest such transfers in UK corporate history. It will take place once the agreement has been implemented and pension arrangements are in place for these employees. Under the agreement, Openreach will manage and operate its assets and trading but ownership of those assets and trading will remain with BT.

The agreement builds on changes that BT has already made to the governance of Openreach in recent months. These include the creation of an Openreach Board with a majority of independent members.

This Board will set Openreach’s medium term and annual operating plans and determine which technologies are deployed, within a strategic and financial framework defined by BT. Openreach will be free to explore alternative co-investment models in private with third parties.

The post BT and Ofcom agree deal to legally separate Openreach appeared first on United Networks.

The group has paid £1.18bn to fend off Sky and renew exclusive broadcast rights for Champions League and Europa League football. The deal which runs from 2018 to 2021, represents a 32% increase on the cost of its current three-year contract.

The rights win comes after the telecoms group prompted outrage among customers and consumer groups for introducing its third price hike in 18 months at the start of the year. In January, BT said it was to raise the cost of broadband and calls. It also announced that BT Sport will no longer be given away free to its BT TV customers and that it would begin charging them £3.50 a month for the service from August. The broadband and phone call price rises will affect about 10 million customers from 2 April, equating to increases of about 5% to 6%.

BT denied customers were being squeezed to fund its battle with Sky for premium sports rights.

“I don’t think that is true,” said John Petter, the chief executive of BT’s consumer division. “The broadband market is very competitive. Our share of the broadband market has been growing and customers vote with their feet [if they are unhappy]. The fact that the market is competitive means our offering has to represent good value for money. Line rental has not increased, for example. I don’t think people should read that this [deal] translates to price increases.”

The new deal means BT’s costs for Champions League and Europa League per season will rise from £299m to £394m, as rampant inflation in premium sports rights shows no signs of abating.

Before BT Sport entered the market two years ago, Sky and ITV had shared Champions League rights in a deal worth £400m over three years.

Before bids being lodged, sources had indicated that Sky was not prepared to make a knockout bid to snatch back the rights from BT, which has justified the expense to customers and shareholders as “financially disciplined”.

Petter said it was a deal the company was keen to do, but “not at any price”.

“We were keen to keep a balance and be financially disciplined,” he said. “We have to give customers value for money, as well as shareholders, and we have to keep in balance. This deal creates a lot of extra value for customers.”

Viewing figures for Champions League football have dropped in recent years, a fact highlighted by Sky when it lost the rights to BT at the 2013 auction.

“That may be true of other channels but it is not true of us,” said Petter. “We are up 5%.”

BT has promised wider viewing access to the Champions League, with clips and highlights to be made available free on social media, as well as making screenings of both finals free-to-view. Last season, BT streamed both finals on YouTube.

The deal means ITV will no longer be able to broadcast Champions League highlights after matches have finished on BT.

“We are truly exclusive now,” said Petter. “Viewing on social media has seen the biggest growth in audiences, especially since we gave access to BT Sport to EE customers.”

BT is due to explore sub-licensing deals with free-to-air partners, such as Channel 4 and ITV, after competition sponsors expressed concerns to Uefa – the body that oversees the Champions League – about the lack of exposure under the existing deal.

Petter said that Uefa was not pressuring BT to secure a free-to-air TV deal.

“There is no requirement for us to do that at all,” he said. “They have been happy to see the sorts of audiences BT Sport has been getting. On the other hand, if there is a great deal to be done we will look at it. [But] there is no pressure at all.”

Petter also said that the deal provided new commercial opportunities such as upcoming “double-header” nights – when a change in kick-off times means there will be live matches starting at 6pm and 8pm during the group stages – a move expected to prove popular with the 30,000-plus pubs and bars licensed to air BT sport matches.

After submitting its bid last week, Gavin Patterson, the BT chief executive, complained about the inflation of sports rights in the UK market.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, the marketing director at Uefa, said: “BT have delivered strong audiences in the UK and we are excited about their future plans for the use of social media which will engage a growing fan base that consumes sport in different ways.”

The post BT denies squeezing customers after paying £1.2bn for Champions League appeared first on United Networks.

Avaya is also working with wholesale distribution partners to deliver a complete cloud solution for partners including billing, provisioning and other back-end systems.

Partners have the option to host and maintain Avaya cloud services in their own data centres and sell directly to customers, wrapping additional services around the core product.

Powered by Avaya has already been rolled out with selected Avaya channel partners in the UK.

The UK’s mid-sized businesses account for one-third of private-sector turnover, and added more jobs to the economy last year than smaller businesses and FTSE 350 companies combined, according to business advisory firm BDO.

Furthermore, the European cloud market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23.2%.

Avaya UK MD Ioan MacRae (pictured) said: “The mid-market sector is the engine room of the UK economy, but is all too-often overlooked with vendors either focusing on larger enterprise customers or providing solutions that don’t deliver the scalability, resiliency, and flexibility mid-market customers are looking for.”

In addressing the market ScanSource will provide reseller partners with cloud solutions Powered by IP Office.

MacRae added: “By combining with ScanSource, we can more effectively reach the indirect channel, enabling resellers to leverage our cloud-based solutions and create offerings that meet today’s digital business needs.”

James Vickerage, President, ScanSource Imago, added: “This partnership with Avaya will enable us to give our partners the freedom to sell cloud-based solutions to their customers.”

The post Avaya targets mid-market with cloud solutions and signs distributor ScanSource appeared first on United Networks.

The devices are fitted with small mobile sites that include a base station and an antenna.

They could also be used to connect remote parts of the UK where coverage is thin.

EE said it planned to deploy such a network in a UK rural area this year.

The drones can stay airborne for up to an hour at a time and the “helikite” balloons for several weeks as they have a tethered power source.

The drone was designed to give short-term targeted coverage to aid search and rescue situations, EE said.

“Innovation is essential for us to go further than we’ve ever gone, and deliver a network that’s more reliable than ever before,” said EE chief executive Marc Allera.

“Rural parts of the UK provide more challenges to mobile coverage than anywhere else, so we have to work harder there – developing these technologies will ultimately help our customers, even in the most hard to reach areas.”

It was the first time this had been tried out in the UK, said Kester Mann, analyst at CCS Insight.

“Everyone immediately thinks of disruptive players like Facebook and Google when it come to things like balloon-based networks. The traditional networks need to step up so they don’t get left behind,” he told the BBC.

Google is developing a network of huge balloons to provide connectivity to rural areas around the world, known as Project Loon.

Last month the tech giant confirmed it had closed its internet drone project, Titan, which was designed to bring the internet to remote rural areas.

Facebook’s Project Aquila involves building solar-powered aircraft which will fly for months at a time above remote places, beaming down an internet connection.

The post EE shows off helium balloon mobile masts appeared first on United Networks.

He reports to Executive Vice Principal Stephen Long and will be responsible for the direction, development and management of the sales organisation.

Long said: “Our sales team is focused on helping organisations to deliver their overall customer experience rather than just new technology. Phil’s vision for the development and evolution of an enterprise sales function that listens more than it talks is a perfect fit for us.”

Offord added: “Companies are looking for partners that are large enough to make the difference but small enough to be agile and KCOM fits that need.”

He joins KCOM from CORETX (previously Selection Services and C4L) where he served as Group Sales & Marketing Director for over two years. Prior to this role he served as Sales and Marketing Director for Logicalis UK.

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“Due to the large number of channels we support across multiple data centres, the conventional recording equipment wasn’t man enough for the job,” said Paul Taylor, Sales Director.

Taylor also noted that call recording has become a de facto must-have within many sectors, a requirement that has been triggered by what he described as a prevailing ‘culture of blame’.

“Employees and customers need protection,” added Taylor. “The only way to protect verbal communication is via call recording.”

Voiceflex’s SIP trunk call recording solution is hosted in the cloud and offers free set-up with no fixed monthly commitment. Customers pay only for why they use, and they have the option of deleting recordings and downloading them to be stored locally.

“Our call recording application is designed for partners selling cloud or on premise-based telephony to businesses wanting to record both incoming as well as outgoing SIP calls,” added Taylor.

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Denk moves into the new role from his previous position as vice president of Avaya Germany’s Small and Medium Business Group.

Prior to Avaya, Denk held positions in Sales and Marketing at a number of global technology companies, including Deutsche Telekom, IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The post Avaya appoints Denk as Worldwide Channel Leader appeared first on United Networks.

Dubbed “Quality Assurance: Extensive Tests”, a new one-minute video made by Samsung shows a Galaxy S7 Edge being put through a barrage of tests, including being dropped, bent, drenched in water and operated under extreme temperatures.

In between these torture tests, text explains that “our phones are extensively tested, retested, and then tested again” and the video ends saying “innovation is our legacy. Quality is our priority.”

All of which, clearly, is an attempt to rebuild trust in the brand, as the launch of the Galaxy S8 looms ever closer.

https://youtu.be/Hkmp8SmtXSg

Make or break

Samsung likely has more riding on this phone than any previous handset, as not only is it a flagship, but the company will be looking to make up some of the lost earnings from the Note 7.

It could also be a make or break moment for the brand, where the company either rebuilds its reputation, or – if the S8’s launch isn’t buttery smooth – damages it beyond repair.

Convincing the public that the phone won’t explode in their pocket, as this video clearly aims to do, is just half of that battle. The other half is actually making sure it doesn’t.

But there’s evidence Samsung’s working on that too, from the 8-point battery safety check it announced it would be implementing, to reportedly keeping the battery size relatively small for safety reasons. So it seems the firm isn’t taking any chances, the question now is whether would-be buyers will take a chance on Samsung.

The post Samsung really wants you to believe the Galaxy S8 won’t explode appeared first on United Networks.