Telecom news

• BT promises £3.7 billion budget for FTTH, despite massive job cuts

  10-05-2018 02:00
  BT will increase its investment in fibre to the home (FTTH) connectivity and mobile network infrastructure to £3.7 billion per year, as the UK's former incumbent looks to overhaul its broadband networks in the coming years…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• Virgin Media O2 owners weigh options to slash £22bn debt pile

  30-07-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Dividend cuts, job losses and lower investment are among measures being considered by Telefónica and Liberty Global
  
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• The UK has worse mobile coverage than Romania. Why?

  30-07-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Operators blame planning rules and low prices for a lack of investment
  
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• Lost underground water network beneath Royal Parks to be mapped

  29-07-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Hidden waterways that once supplied water to royal palaces are to be uncovered in a new archaeology project exploring what lies beneath three of London’s Royal Parks.The Royal Parks charity has launched the Lost Waterways of the Royal Parks, a three-year project that will investigate forgotten conduits, wells, reservoirs and underground tunnels hidden beneath Richmond Park, Greenwich Park and Bushy Park.
  Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with additional support from the Friends
  
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• It’s time to start planning your Heritage Open Day trips

  29-07-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  For a couple of weeks in September, thousands of buildings across the UK, mostly outside London, are open to the public.The Heritage Open Days are a UK-wide version of the London Open House events, and while the vast majority are open to wander in and look around, some require advance booking. They range from old buildings to theatres to sewage pumping stations.
  Some are taking bookings now, but many won’t be for a week or two, so now is the time to plan your day trips to (mostly) outside
  
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• Gangsters in camera: Exhibition shines a light into London’s criminal underworld

  29-07-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There’s a cast of characters on show at the Leica Gallery that you’d probably hope never to meet – London’s gangster underworld.The photographs were taken by agency and fashion photographer David Hurn, who was originally commissioned by British Elle to photograph a journalist interviewing two well-known villains. The assignment led to something far more unusual. Hurn built a relationship with one of the men and, over the following three years, was granted remarkable acces
  
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• Crowded Harrods plaza to be reshaped in bid to improve pedestrian flow

  29-07-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The pedestrianised but very busy street outside Harrods, next to the tube station entrance, is being refurbished to reduce the clutter and create more space for pedestrians.
  (c) Andy Sturgeon Design
  Although fully pedestrianised in 2004 when the new tube station entrance was created, some of the space is occupied by food stalls and with the tube station entrance next to the department store, it can be a bit of a muddle with crowds trying to get around each other.
  Work on the improvements was due
  
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• TfL expands Routemaster ‘ding-ding’ trial after promising safety results

  29-07-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) is bringing back one of London’s most familiar sounds – ding-ding – as it expands a trial to see whether the classic Routemaster bell can help prevent passengers from falling over when buses pull away.The four-week trial starts on Friday 31st July on Route 188 (North Greenwich to Tottenham Court Road) and is the latest stage of TfL’s Bus Safety Innovation Challenge. Every time the doors close, passengers will hear the classic Routemaster ding-di
  
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• Tower Gateway DLR station getting a new entrance and lift in hotel development

  29-07-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Tower Gateway DLR station is to get a second lift and entrance as part of a deal with a property developer building a hotel and recently completed new flats next to the station.
  The new hotel and DLR station entrance – source: planning documents
  The DLR station already has a lift and escalators at its main entrance, but in 2009, TfL added a second entrance at the rear. However, that entrance only has stairs, as adding a second lift wasn’t viable at the time.
  That all changes now, wit
  
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• The wonderfully nerdy guide to London’s Thames bridges has been updated

  28-07-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Sometimes a technical document that is of no practical use to the average person can still be curiously fascinating.
  (c) PLA mariners guide
  Such a document might include the Mariners’ Guide to Bridges on the tidal Thames, which is published by the Port of London Authority – and has just been updated. Published since 2012 and updated roughly every three years, it’s aimed at mariners, but contains exceptionally detailed information about the bridges over the Thames, along with so
  
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• Tickets Alert: National Theatre to host a sale of stage props

  28-07-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Next month, the National Theatre will be hosting a rare sale of props from its previous theatrical productions.The sale will take place alongside discounted work by independent designers and makers. The event also marks a rare Sunday opening for the National Theatre’s shops and public sales spaces, making it an unusual weekend opportunity for visitors.
  Running alongside the props sale is Crafty Fox Market’s first-ever Samples & Seconds Sale at the National Theatre. Around 40 sele
  
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• From skyscrapers to struggle: Exhibition captures the two faces of America

  28-07-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The American dream, in all its varieties of optimism and poverty, has come to the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
  A new photography exhibition looks at how Americans viewed themselves, but also, thanks to reproductions in magazines, how we often see Americans.Moving from the optimism of the early skyscraper age, through the trauma of the Great Depression, and into the uneasy prosperity of the post-war decades, the exhibition follows both the evolution of photography and the emergence of the United Stat
  
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• Sutton council to fill funding gap for Belmont railway upgrade

  28-07-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Plans to double the number of train services between Sutton and Belmont stations have hit a £4 million problem, as costs have risen sharply in recent years.
  Belmont Station
  Belmont station, which is near a major cancer care centre, is currently served by a half-hourly Southern Railway service, and there are plans to double services on the Sutton to Epsom Downs line, with the enhanced timetable expected to be introduced from December 2027.
  Track layout over Google Map
  This involves restorin
  
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• To create wealth, Europe must reap the dividends of radio spectrum

  28-07-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  The EU cannot ask its telecoms to compete globally while organising one of its most important sectors nationally
  
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• Amazon targets Musk’s Starlink with satellite constellation for mobile services

  27-07-2026 17:57 via ft.com
  Tech giant files to launch more than 5,000 satellites to provide global consumer service
  
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• Vodafone raises profit guidance as billionaire Xavier Niel takes stake

  27-07-2026 10:30 via ft.com
  UK telecoms major posts first set of results since French mogul moved to take holding
  
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• When it opens, the London Museum will come with four cafes and restaurants

  24-07-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The soon-to-open London Museum has announced more details of the non-museum stuff that museums need – such as the food and drink they will be offering.
  The London Museum (c) Secchi Smith
  What we call the restaurants and cafes, they call “major hospitality concepts” with four “distinct food and drink destinations” that will come with a “food curator”. All of which is hopefully not a preview of the language to be used on the labels when the museum proper o
  
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• This weeks discounted theatre tickets from London Theatre Direct

  24-07-2026 13:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This week’s sale and discount theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct.
  On stage at the Shaftesbury (c) ianVisitsSinatra The Musical
  Start spreadin’ the news, the king of swing is back
  From £23
   The Devil Wears Prada
  Elton John’s new musical The Devil Wears Prada is now playing in the West End.
  From £31 – SAVE UP TO £30
   My Neighbour Totoro
  Enter a world of magic and wonder with My Neighbour Totoro – a perfect enchanted adventure
  
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• London tram driven the wrong way through Croydon town centre

  24-07-2026 12:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Seeing a tram heading the wrong way through Croydon town centre might normally be a sign that something has gone very wrong. A few weeks ago, it was exactly what was supposed to happen.
  The overnight tram test – enhanced photo from TfL video
  The unusual sight was part of a planned test ahead of a partial closure of the London Trams network for engineering works next month. The engineering works will close the entire central section of the tram network, but to maintain reliable service, the
  
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• The London Buzz – 23rd July 2026

  23-07-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Old London – Bramshot Avenues, Westcombe Park
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Blackheath Fireworks will return for 2026 – but free displays unlikely to come back Greenwich Wire
  Wandsworth pledges 24 extra police officers under new leader Putney News
  Met police ‘can’t afford the hay and vet bills for its horses’ New Journal
  A portrait of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, painted by an art student, has been unveiled at City Hall. BBC News
  Thames Clippers has introduced rea
  
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• TfL says Silvertown Tunnel has cut Blackwall congestion after first year

  23-07-2026 17:06 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) says its first year of monitoring suggests the Silvertown Tunnel has reduced congestion around the Blackwall Tunnel, encouraged more people to travel by bus across the Thames and coincided with improved local air quality.
  But it has displaced some traffic to other river crossings that are still free to use, such as Rotherhithe and Woolwich.The findings are published in TfL’s first annual report on the road tunnel, which opened last April, and follow on from a pre
  
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• Tickets Alert: The Tank Museum comes to London (sort of)

  23-07-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Dorset’s legendary Tank Museum is sending its staff to London for an evening later this year, for a talk about the history of what else, but tanks.Join the Tank Museum and special guests – including Al Murray and James Holland  – for an evening exploring the rise – and potential fall – of the tank as the dominant force on the battlefield.
  Plus, in this special fundraising event, they’ll share more about the impact they are having as a museum as they tell
  
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• Westminster Cathedral lights up with immersive summer projection show

  23-07-2026 13:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Westminster Cathedral – that’s the Catholic one – is currently being filled with a video light show several evenings a week throughout the summer months.Titled LUMINISCENCE, the production combines 360-degree video mapping with choral performances by the Lux Aeterna Choir, alongside a narrated script voiced by actor Hugh Bonneville. The production includes a newly commissioned script by writer Tim Whitnall, which traces the history of London from its early development through t
  
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• Dry weather to affect some late evening train services in east London

  23-07-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There’s going to be some late evening cuts to mainline train services through east London next month, because the ground is too dry.
  Uneven track on the c2c route caused by dried-out soil (c) Network Rail
  Following England’s warmest spring on record and hot summer so far, the peat and clay that sits under long stretches of the railway has dried out and shrunk. This has caused the track to drop in places and become uneven.
  To fix the problem, Network Rail engineers use machines called
  
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• Ballot Alert: Tours of 10 Downing Street

  23-07-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The annual ballot for a chance to follow Larry through the famous black doors of 10 Downing Street and take a look around the corridors of power is now open.
  10 Downing Street (c) Crown Copyright 2013, Photographer: Sergeant Tom Robinson RLC
  The tour is offered by Open House London, which opens up hundreds of buildings across London for free in September. However, while most are open to just walk in – with some requiring booking – the tours of 10 Downing Street are offered by a free
  
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• Experimental 1960s Fibreglass Sculpture Given New Lease of Life

  23-07-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A sculpture that looks like it should be a 1960s bronze but is actually made from an experimental material – fibreglass – has recently been restored to its original appearance.It’s called Generations, representing two generations of a family, and is by one of Henry Moore’s assistants, the sculptor Geoffrey Harris. Sadly, Geoffrey Harris was not a commercially successful sculptor, but was a good lecturer at several London arts colleges. Much of his work was lost in a house
  
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• The London Buzz – 22nd July 2026

  22-07-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Old London – Woolwich free ferry in 1931
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Protesters demand return of ‘precious’ London Fields paddling pool  Hackney Citzen
  Wandsworth’s planning committee has approved what residents believe is the first Laser Quest ever built directly beneath residential flats, overruling the local MP and two ward councillors. Putney News
  A humanitarian worker is being ‘monitored and assessed’ by specialists in a London hospital after
  
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• Plans unveiled for 2.5-metre-wide tunnels to carry waste heat beneath south London

  22-07-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Two long tunnels could be dug beneath south London to carry surplus heat across the capital, creating a low-carbon heating network that could eventually warm around 300,000 homes.
  (c) London Strategic Heat Main – Cory
  The proposed London Strategic Heat Main would transport otherwise wasted heat from industrial sources to district heating networks, which would then distribute it to homes, offices and other buildings.
  If approved, the scheme would create what is effectively a “motorway
  
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• Tickets Alert: Free entry to St Paul’s Cathedral for its late evening opening

  22-07-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  St Paul’s Cathedral will be having a late opening evening in September, and it’s free to visit.
  St Paul’s Cathedral from the Triforium (c) ianVisits
  In addition to being able to enter the Cathedral as the sun sets, there will be a range of events throughout the evening, from heritage skills demonstrations to talks and self-guided tours. The crypt cafe will also be open in the evening.
  Admission to the cathedral, including the crypt is free – with donations appreciated.
  Th
  
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• Trent Park House of Secrets – London’s WWII spy museum has opened

  21-07-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A grand country house that became one of Britain’s most closely guarded wartime secrets has opened as a new museum, revealing the little-known intelligence operation that helped shorten the Second World War.Trent Park House, in north London, looks every inch the elegant country mansion. Rebuilt in the early 20th century in a mock-Georgian style, it was home to the fabulously wealthy and well-connected Sassoon family, who entertained royalty, politicians and celebrities within its lavish re
  
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