Telecom news

• Brussels faces clash with US over Huawei 5G plan

  25-03-2019 05:33
  European Commission favours risk management rather than ban on Chinese company
  
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• Green light given to pedestrianise Oxford Street as traffic sees red

  26-02-2026 15:36 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is set to go ahead, with Transport for London (TfL) now planning how it will remove road traffic from the busy shopping street. In 2025, the Mayor consulted on his proposal to designate a Mayoral Development Area and establish a Mayoral Development Corporation to drive the regeneration of Oxford Street
  Since then, there have been a couple of consultations on the Mayor’s plan to take control of the area from Westminster Council, and although pedestrian
  
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• The Royal Mews collection of horse-drawn carriages is reopening

  26-02-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Tucked away behind Buckingham Palace are the Royal Mews, home to the King’s horses and historic carriages, and they’re reopening to the public next week after their winter closure.The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace evolved from the King’s Mews, originally just to the north of Trafalgar Square and originally to house royal hawks.
  The name ‘mews’ derives from the word ‘mew’, meaning moulting, as the birds were confined there at moulting time. As a result,
  
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• Go-Ahead’s 1,000th electric bus boosts London’s zero-emission fleet

  26-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Go-Ahead, which operates 170 bus routes across London, says that it has taken delivery of its 1,000th electric bus.
  (c) Go-Ahead
  Go-Ahead London is the largest bus operator in London, running over 2,500 buses across 170 routes, serving more than one million passengers daily. The delivery of the newest bus means that almost half of Go-Ahead London’s routes are now served purely on zero-emission buses.
  The zero-emission buses at Go-Ahead London will cut carbon emissions by around 60,000 tonn
  
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• British Museum announces Bayeux Tapestry ticket sales dates

  26-02-2026 12:34 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Tickets for what will be a genuine once-in-a-lifetime event will go on sale on Wednesday 1 July 2026, as the British Museum prepares to host the Bayeux Tapestry.The exhibition of the 70-metre-long masterpiece, telling the dramatic story of the Norman Conquest stitch by stitch, is expected to become one of the most sought-after exhibitions in the Museum’s history.
  Prices are still to be confirmed.
  Tickets for visits between September and December 2026 will go on sale on 1st July, with two f
  
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• Southwark’s “Owl and the Pussy-Cat” house could be restored and opened to the public

  26-02-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Southwark’s 19th-century “owl and the pussy cat” house could be restored and opened as a cafe under plans to redevelop the modern building next to it.Sitting on Southwark Bridge Road, next to the railway line between Blackfriars and Elephant and Castle, the two 19th-century townhouses are locally famous for the small statues of an owl and a cat in the upper-floor niches.
  It’s said the previous owner added them around the turn of the millennium.Why they are there is still
  
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• Charing Cross station to be hit by three-week summer closure warns Southeastern

  26-02-2026 07:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Both Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations will have to close for three weeks this summer as part of a major programme of engineering works on the busy stretch of railway leading into Charing Cross.
  Charing Cross station (c) ianVisits
  During the 22-day closure, Southeastern trains into central London will continue to run, but many trains will be diverted to alternative terminals. Most services that would normally use Charing Cross will instead run to London Victoria, London Cannon Street or L
  
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• Why you end up following a stranger through a busy railway station

  25-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  If you’re trying to get through a busy railway station, you might think you’re planning your own route through the crowd, but you’re probably following a stranger — even when you don’t realise it, and even when it’s not the fastest route.
  Liverpool Street station
  The unseen “crowdsourced” pathing was uncovered from watching how train passengers navigate around a platform obstruction at Eindhoven Centraal station.
  Researchers analysed three years of
  
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• Bromley’s historic archives to get bigger home in Priory Gardens

  25-02-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Bromley’s historic archives are to get a new home, after plans to demolish their existing site and build a larger modern building were approved by the local council.
  Existing site (c) Bromley Council
  An enlarged archive store is needed in part because the council closed the local museum a decade ago, and the replacement space provided in Bromley library is too small to hold the entire collection. The library is also about to move to a new location, and the new site will not be able to hous
  
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• Could rising contactless fares push commuters back to season tickets?

  25-02-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This Sunday, contactless tube fares will rise by an average of six percent, but if you can switch to season tickets, those fares are being frozen.Even with more people commuting to work more frequently now, paying with contactless daily still seems like a saving, but depending on your travel pattern, fare rises may push the monthly spend closer to what a season ticket would cost anyway.
  The advantage that a season ticket offers is that you get a whole week/month/year of travel for a fixed amount
  
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• Tickets Alert: Guided tours of the Richmond Theatre

  25-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  In the centre of Richmond is a grand theatre that recently marked its 125th anniversary, and they offer tours of the building.The Richmond Theatre opened in 1899 as the Richmond Theatre and Opera House. Designed by the prolific theatre builder, Frank Matcham, barring some modest changes, it’s pretty much still the same theatre that opened over 125 years ago.
  A few changes are pointed out in a tour – such as the decently sympathetic extension to one side to create more space, and as w
  
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• Camden’s iconic Black Cap gay pub to reopen in March 2026

  23-02-2026 14:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Camden’s legendary gay pub, The Black Cap, has confirmed its reopening date, a smidge over a decade since it was forced to close.The pub, which has been a gay haunt since the winter of 1965/66 was forced to close in 2015 when the owners decided they wanted to redevelop the site. The owners themselves closed in 2020, and the company’s administrators sold the building to a new owner who has been working to reopen the venue once again as a gay cabaret pub.
  It had been expected to reopen
  
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• Relief for Stansted Airport travellers as contactless train ticketing arrives in March

  23-02-2026 12:19 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Travellers heading to Stansted Airport will finally be able to use contactless payments for train journeys from next month, after long-delayed approval was given to extend London’s contactless system.
  The lack of contactless payments on the railway to Stansted Airport has often caught travellers out, as they were unaware they needed to buy a conventional ticket, and were often hit with fines when arriving at the airport. Warning signs were added at Liverpool Street ticket barriers to try t
  
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• TfL warns of widespread rail and Tube disruption throughout March

  23-02-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  There will be significant disruption to TfL’s rail and tube services throughout March due to large-scale engineering works, and TfL is advising people to plan ahead.
  The new Piccadilly line train at Hammersmith station, Jan 2026 (c) ianVisits
  The Elizabeth line will be particularly affected in the eastern branch as Network Rail carries out engineering works on their tracks. In the central part of the Elizabeth line, TfL will also undertake some track renewals.
  The Overground will be affect
  
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• Royal Docks plans would add floating parkland and residential boat berths

  23-02-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Plans are being shown off to encourage more boats to use the Royal Docks for long-term mooring, as well as an intention to create a new floating park in the dock.
  (c) Royal Docks Management Authority
  The plans would affect an area known as Royal Victoria Dock West, which is the end closest to London City Hall and the Cable Car.
  If carried out, the two biggest changes will be a range of floating walkways reaching into the dock, lined with water plants. There already is one small floating park in
  
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• London’s Alleys: Ship Tavern Passage, City of London, EC3

  23-02-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This central London alley, next to Leadenhall Market, is named after a ship but dominated by a swan.The alley likely came into existence when the first Leadenhall Market, as a market for herbs, opened, with a long passage leading from the market to Gracechurch Street.
  William Morgan’s Map 1682
  OS Map 1875
  The alley used to be longer and straighter, but the eastern half was cut off when a building was constructed on the site. That building was demolished in 2000, and archaeologists research
  
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• Altice France liabilities add around €1bn to debt pile

  21-02-2026 06:00
  Rival telecoms groups are considering new bid for Patrick Drahi’s French business
  
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• Altice France liabilities add about €1bn to debt pile

  21-02-2026 06:00
  Rival telecoms groups are considering new bid for Patrick Drahi’s French business
  
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• Tickets Alert: Half price tickets to see Zippos Circus

  20-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The travelling circus is coming to town and will be popping up around London throughout 2026, and there’s a way of getting half-price tickets to the show.
  (c) Zippos Circus
  Prices to watch the shows vary depending on how close you are to the action, but range from £21 for the rear seats to £35 for ringside seats. However, the opening-night preview show, just after they settle into each location, offers half-price tickets, so from £12 to £15 per seat.
  Which, for a 2-
  
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• Four free exhibitions at the V&A South Kensington

  20-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The V&A has several large paid-for temporary exhibitions, but dotted around the building are a number of smaller free exhibitions worth seeking out.
  They range from a single display case to several rooms – and all are free to visit.
  Photography Now
  Until 12th September (rooms 96-97)
  A collection of recent acquisitions by the V&A, including, unusually for a photography collection, sculptures. A case of small tear bottles has been made from the remains of photos burnt by their owners
  
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• Musk’s Starlink to be tested against Eutelsat on French shipping fleet

  20-02-2026 06:00
  Move by CMA CGM comes amid European efforts to support OneWeb as a rival to SpaceX’s satellite network
  
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• Free tickets to visit the Barbican’s heated greenhouse conservatory

  19-02-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  If you’re looking for an escape from the winter, the Barbican Arts Centre includes London’s second-largest heated conservatory, and it’s totally free to visit.The conservatory wraps around the huge fly tower that supports scenery for the theatre beneath your feet, and while the Barbican’s concrete is still very evident, it adds to the overall effect. Imagine a city centre abandoned by humans and overrun by plants, and that’s what you are walking through when you vis
  
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• Dot by Dot, Sea by Sea: Seurat’s painting glow at the Courtauld

  19-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  An artist who died young, and whose painting method was almost mechanically precise, has somehow filled two rooms at the Courtauld Gallery with seascapes that are unexpectedly calm and contemplative.Georges Seurat was a French post-Impressionist best known for a technique later dubbed pointillism: painting not with expressive brushstrokes, but by patiently placing thousands of tiny dots onto the surface. Rather than mixing colours on a palette, Seurat relied on the viewer’s eye to do the w
  
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• Tate tries to turn an advertising campaign into a Cultural Event

  19-02-2026 09:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Tate Modern has announced an advertising campaign, and that is a very odd thing to announce.
  Spitalfields – Image courtesy Tate and Jack Arts (part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD)
  It’s not that advertising campaigns are never announced, but when they are, it’s usually in advertising trade magazines, and generally by the agency that did the work. The client doesn’t normally issue a press release that essentially says, “We are putting up some posters.”
  Yet that is exactly wh
  
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• How Londoners tracked death figures to survive the Great Plague of 1665

  19-02-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  New research has uncovered how Londoners reacted in real time to the Great Plague of 1665, revealing that people reshaped their daily lives around published death figures – using them to decide where to go, who to meet, and whether to remain in the city or flee.
  From a 2015 exhibition at Guildhall Library
  The study, from the University of Portsmouth, shows that weekly death reports, known as the Bills of Mortality, served as a practical guide to survival. Rather than being distant or abstr
  
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• Orange CEO warns there is ‘no incentive for investment’ in Europe

  19-02-2026 07:30
  French telecoms group will prioritise growth in the Middle East and Africa, says Christel Heydemann
  
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• Oscar Wilde’s trial dock set for public access following restoration work

  18-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  You will soon be able to stand in the very trial dock where Oscar Wilde stood trial, after funding was secured to restore it.
  Front page of the Police News – 20th April 1895
  Funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will support the conservation and reopening of the original dock from Court No.2 at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court – the place where Wilde appeared following his arrest in April 1895, ahead of his trial at the Old Bailey for “gross indecency”.
  His p
  
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• Liberty Global agrees to buy out Vodafone in Dutch joint venture for €1bn

  18-02-2026 16:02
  The telecoms and media company aims to list planned ‘Ziggo Group’ in Amsterdam next year
  
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• New exhibition explores how an English merchant and his Chinese colleagues changed botanical art

  18-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A small exhibition at the Garden Museum is restoring the story of a botanist who is little known today, but was on the cusp of honours before he died tragically young.At its centre is John Bradby Blake, an English botanist working in Chinese Canton in the late 1760s while employed by the East India Company. But the exhibition’s real achievement is in restoring visibility to the Chinese collaborators without whom his work would have been impossible.
  Bradby Blake’s botanical ambitions
  
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• Royal Mail steams ahead with Hornby centenary postage stamps

  17-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Royal Mail has issued an eight-stamp set marking more than a century of Hornby Model Railways.
  Four of the eight stamps (c) Royal Mail
  Founded by Frank Hornby, whose first clockwork Hornby Series trains appeared in 1920, the company began producing models of real British locomotives in 1929. For many railway enthusiasts, Hornby became a parallel record of railway history — preserving classes, liveries and eras long after the originals had disappeared from the network.
  Each stamp in the
  
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