Telecom news

• City Hall calls on councils to help tackle London’s patchy mobile coverage

  15-10-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Londoners who complain about poor mobile phone coverage may have less reason to moan in the future, with local councils urged to offer council buildings and land for network equipment.That’s because City Hall has published an analysis of where mobile services fall short, along with steps councils can take to help mobile network operators improve them.
  However, these aren’t mandatory, though suggestions include appointing a dedicated mobile connectivity officer, ensuring property deve
  
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• The London Buzz – 16th Oct 2026

  16-10-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Olde London – Chiswick High Road around 1910
  Today’s London news round-up:
  A tribunal judge has ruled that management of a children’s hospital school unfairly sacked a senior teacher following a “retaliatory action” for “protected” union rep activities. Camden New Journal
  A London couple have lost a four-year boundary battle over a 48cm “sliver” of land after trying to force their neighbours to demolish the kitchen wall of their £600,00
  
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• Tickets Alert: Tours of UCL’s maps collection

  16-10-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An opportunity is coming up to explore one of the UK’s last surviving university map libraries and see its collection up close.For the first time, Professor James Cheshire will lead tours of the UCL Map Library as it opens its doors to the public. During this 90-minute visit, James will share stories from his research into the collection for his book ‘The Library of Lost Maps’, which reveals how maps have helped inspire some of the greatest scientific discoveries, but also led
  
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• Free Stanley Kubrick exhibition coming to London

  16-10-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One of the infamous axe props from The Shining will be the highlight of a free Stanley Kubrick exhibition in London early next year, ahead of the collection being sold at auction.
  Stanley Kubrick, self-portrait, circa 1949. Courtesy of Stanley Kubrick Film Archives
  Featuring props, scripts, equipment, and personal possessions offered directly from the Stanley Kubrick Film Archives, the exhibition will be a preview of the sale but will also be freely open to the public.
  Highlights on display incl
  
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• Starlink spectrum deal piles Elon Musk’s plate ever higher

  16-10-2026 14:15 via ft.com
  Move may be part of a bigger plan but it spells even more capital expenditure at a company already spending beyond its means
  
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• Gainsborough’s landed gentry lose their heads at the National Gallery

  16-10-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  When importing a work of art for an exhibition, a gun import license isn’t usually a concern, but the National Gallery had to consider it for its latest show.The exhibition puts a Gainsborough painting from around 1750 in conversation with a contemporary sculpture made in 1998, inspired by it.
  Thomas Gainsborough’s Mr and Mrs Andrews shows the landlords lording it over their estate in Sudbury, Suffolk, where Gainsborough House is now a museum.
  The painting is unusual for the time, as
  
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• Tickets for London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks go on sale next Friday

  16-10-2026 12:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Tickets for the London Eye’s New Year’s Eve fireworks show will go on sale next Friday, the Mayor of London has announced.Prices have been frozen (a bit like the spectators on the night) at last year’s level.
  The first opportunity to secure a ticket to watch the fireworks in person is when tickets go on sale next Friday (23rd Oct) at midday. A second, smaller batch of tickets will go on sale later this year.
  You must buy a ticket to watch the fireworks in person from the specia
  
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• City of London Police introduce ‘sin bin’ for cyclists who jump red lights

  16-10-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Cyclists who jump red lights in the City of London are being offered a chance to avoid a fine – if they stand in a “sin bin” and watch a road safety film.
  (c) ianVisits
  The scheme will give some offending riders the opportunity to watch a short film about the consequences of their behaviour instead of receiving an immediate fixed penalty notice. However, City of London Police says officers will decide when to offer the option, and cyclists can still be fined.
  The move follows a
  
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• Greater Anglia signs £800m deal to keep commuter trains running into the 2040s

  16-10-2026 09:45 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Greater Anglia has signed an £800 million maintenance support contract that will keep its commuter trains running through to the early 2040s
  (c) Alstom
  The 15-year agreement covers the operator’s entire fleet of 133 five-car Class 720 Aventra trains, supplied by Alstom. The agreement will support around 100 Alstom jobs at Greater Anglia’s Seven Kings depot in east London.
  For Greater Anglia, the agreement confirms long-term maintenance for a train fleet that forms a substantial
  
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• Tickets Alert: A Christmas Carol performed at the Charles Dickens Museum

  15-10-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  If you want to see A Christmas Carol performed live, the very home where Charles Dickens lived seems like a perfect setting.
  James Swanton
  This year, the exceptionally versatile James Swanton returns to the museum with his one-man version of the story, swiftly and deftly swapping between characters in the blink of an eye. From miserly mutterings to ghostly warnings, he has rather more spirits to keep track of than most people at Christmas.
  With clever lighting and little else, the performance ta
  
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• The London Buzz – 14th Oct 2026

  14-10-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Olde London – The Kingsway subway
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Westminster Council proposes slashing council tax support by up to 30 per cent Fitzrovia News
  Gail’s Bakery, the absolute poster girl for rampant gentrification, will be inviting Brixtonites to nibble on their kimchi, cheddar and gochugaru chili croissants from this Friday Brixton Buzz
  Labour-run Ealing Council has rejected an opposition motion calling for plans for a 1,200-seat temporary Troubadour theatre in Walp
  
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• Lord’s ballot for tickets to watch international cricket now open

  14-10-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  If you fancy watching some international cricket at Lord’s next year, then it’s time to enter their ballot for tickets.There’s no financial commitment at this stage, as the ballot simply enters you in for the opportunity to buy tickets if your name comes up. There’s no commitment either, so if you change your mind, then the tickets are released to other people.
  So if you’re maybe “cricket adjacent” and know someone who would love to attend a match, you c
  
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• National Theatre offering free 7-day trial of its at home streaming service

  14-10-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The National Theatre is offering a free week of theatre at home, with a new seven-day trial giving eligible new subscribers unlimited access to its streaming catalogue.It’s the first time National Theatre at Home has offered a free trial, letting viewers watch productions filmed live on stage with an audience.
  You need a valid payment method to sign up, and the subscription starts automatically after the seven days – so put a note in your diary if you think you might want to cancel.
  
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• Rainham Hall exhibition reveals the making of Sense and Sensibility

  14-10-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A little under 300 years ago, a decent-sized manor house was built east of London, and more recently, it became a film set for the latest movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.And, showing the sort of financial prudence Elinor Dashwood might approve of, the National Trust has followed Rainham Hall’s spell as a film set with an exhibition revealing how it was done.
  An exhibition dotted around the house mixes costumes and props from the film, but what makes it more in
  
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• Tickets Alert: One week to Bayeux Tapestry Ticket Day

  14-10-2026 12:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  It’s the 960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, and a timely reminder that the next batch of Bayeux Tapestry tickets will go on sale soon. Quite why the tickets aren’t going on sale today — the actual anniversary — seems a curiously missed opportunity.But, just as the battle lasted nearly all day, modern ticket hunters might need to prepare for their own lengthy campaign. Although this one should involve fewer arrows and more cups of tea as you watch the website&rsq
  
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• Proposed West End pedestrianisation scheme delayed by a year at least

  14-10-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Plans to pedestrianise the wide road between Piccadilly Circus and St James Park appear to have been delayed after an updated consultation pushed back the next stage of works.
  Regent Street St James
  The proposals include making Regent Street St James’s, Waterloo Place and the south side of Piccadilly Circus traffic-free, creating more than 35,000 square metres of new public space in the heart of the capital.
  The plans would also improve junctions, pavements and drainage across Regent Stree
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks: Rosemary Gardens, Islington, N1

  14-10-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This is a large, varied park next to the Regent’s Canal that owes its existence to a poisonous factory and the clearance of the houses that once sat next to it.
  This part of London was still fields until a couple of hundred years ago, but a local landmark at the park’s southeast corner, the Rosemary Branch, a large pub, gave the park its name. However, the name has nothing to do with the fragrant plant, but comes from the pub’s location at a branch of the Ros stream – hen
  
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• Fifty-five years after Betjeman saved Rules, London’s oldest restaurant is secured again

  14-10-2026 01:01 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Fifty-five years after John Betjeman helped save it from demolition, London’s oldest restaurant, Rules in Covent Garden, has had its future secured again after the building was donated to the National Trust.
  Rules (c) ianVisits
  The restaurant’s landlord has gifted the Maiden Lane building to the charity, protecting the home of an institution that has served diners since 1798. Over the centuries, Rules has built up the sort of list of illustrious customers that would put an edition of
  
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• The London Buzz – 13th Oct 2026

  13-10-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Olde London – Victoria station around 1904
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Almost 5,000 evacuated in City of London gas leak BBC News
  Wandsworth Council’s Cabinet last night approved a plan to nearly double council tax next April, at a testy meeting where the only voice raised against it had no vote. Putney News
  Counterfeit goods seized from 15 second-hand phone shops in Edmonton Enfield Dispatch
  Pedestrianised streets are teaching London a lesson in place-making The Spaces
  Hackn
  
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• Creditors sue Patrick Drahi’s Altice International over asset shifts

  13-10-2026 17:27 via ft.com
  Lenders allege that billionaire illegally moved assets worth billions of dollars out of their reach
  
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• A 127-year-old delivery van returns to London’s streets

  13-10-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One of the world’s oldest still-running cars will be on display in central London later this month ahead of its participation in the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.
  RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
  The 1899 Mercedes-Benz combination delivery vehicle – an exceptionally rare example from the earliest days of commercial motoring – will be on display at the St James’s Motoring Spectacle on Pall Mall on Saturday 31 October, as part of a large di
  
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• How BT’s TalkTalk swoop left broadband rivals fuming

  13-10-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Rescue deal will boost BT’s market leadership at a time when regulators are trying to encourage competition
  
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• Inside KKR’s €22bn bet on Italy’s telecoms network

  11-10-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Two years after the FiberCop deal closed it is struggling with high debt and difficult relations with its biggest customer
  
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• Across London – a day of humiliation and fasting

  10-10-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  On this day, 360 years ago — 10th October 1666 — the entire city observed a day of fasting and prayer in repentance for the Great Fire of London.
  The Londoners lamentation
  Ordered by King Charles II, the ‘day of fasting and humiliation’ was observed to implore God for mercy and forgiveness for the nation’s sins. Because, of course, it was sin that caused the Great Fire, not a careless baker, which was quite a nice get out of jail card for the baker.
  In addition, eve
  
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• US telcos shed $60bn in value after SpaceX announces spectrum purchase

  09-10-2026 19:41 via ft.com
  Elon Musk takes big step towards launching Starlink mobile service for US consumers
  
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• The London Buzz – 9th Oct 2026

  09-10-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Olde London – Denmark Hill and the Fox Under The Hill pub around 1904–1905Today’s London news round-up:
  Artists are taking over the old Wandsworth library on Garratt Lane, nearly three years after the library moved to a new building yards away. Putney News
  Window cleaners become trapped on 15th floor of London skyscraper Independent
  An underground wartime shelter that could hold up to 800 people was found during works to revamp Lewisham town centre, The Greenwich Wire
  Prime Min
  
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• US telcos shed $45bn in value after SpaceX announces spectrum purchase

  09-10-2026 16:37 via ft.com
  Elon Musk takes big step towards launching Starlink mobile service for US consumers
  
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• Tickets Alert: The atmospheric Dennis Severs’ House Christmas experience

  09-10-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The atmospheric Dennis Severs’ House gets even more special for Christmas, and tickets are now on sale for the often sold-out winter season.Just around the corner from Spitalfields Market in East London, Dennis Severs’ House is laid out as a Georgian house where the family has just stepped outside for a moment. You are invited into their home to walk around while they’re out.
  It’s not a museum with lots of precious objects but an experience. You are exhorted to step back
  
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• TfL staff’s art exhibition on public display in Canary Wharf tube station

  09-10-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The people who drive London’s trains, staff its stations, and reunite passengers with lost belongings are showing another side of their talents at Canary Wharf’s Jubilee line station.It’s the TfL staff art exhibition and brings together images of 80 artworks created by TfL staff in their own time, ranging from paintings and drawings to textiles and woodwork.
  TfL’s annual staff art exhibition is usually held internally, but this year its property arm, Places for London, ha
  
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• Virgin targets 2030 launch for cross-Channel trains from London

  09-10-2026 09:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Virgin Trains has confirmed that it plans to launch its cross-Channel rail services in 2030, after signing an agreement for 12 new Alstom trains and securing a deal to maintain them at Temple Mills depot in east London.
  (c) Virgin Trains Europe
  The company proposes to run 20 daily return services linking London with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, adding almost 7.5 million seats a year to the cross-Channel market. It says the venture could create up to 1,000 jobs.
  In August 2025, Virgin Trains Eu
  
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