Telecom news

• EE extends in-store mobile repair service to 218 sites

  11-05-2022 13:23
  
  UK MNO EE has extended its two hour in-store repair service for mobile phones to stores across the rest of the UK.
  The two hour in-store repair service was originally launched in Bluewater, Nottingham and Portsmouth in 2020  but is now being extended to 218 of its stores. According to its site it has 553 stores across the UK, so that’s about half the portfolio.
  Typical repair times are apparently 1 to 2 hours, though where there is an intermittent fault or a more complex repair is nee
  
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• Five-day bus strike to disrupt seven East London routes next week

  06-06-2026 09:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There will be a five day long bus strike in London next week, affecting seven bus routes across East London.The strikes are planned on bus routes operated by Stagecoach from Bow Bus Garage, and Transport for London (TfL) says that some services will be severely delayed and buses may be cancelled.
  According to Unite the Union, over 300 bus drivers will be on strike in a dispute over long shifts without breaks, insufficient time between shifts, and increased weekend work.
  These routes are affected
  
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• Giant Joseph Paxton bust restored to its original Crystal Palace location

  05-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A monumental bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the Victorian designer behind both the Crystal Palace and the park that bears its name, has been returned to its original position on the Italian Terraces as part of the ongoing restoration of Crystal Palace Park.
  (c) Crystal Palace Park Trust
  The oversized stone sculpture, which had stood for many years on a rather unappealing brick plinth near the sports ground, has now been installed on a newly constructed plinth overlooking the landscape Paxton himself
  
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• First images unveiled of future Thamesmead DLR station

  05-06-2026 13:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first images of the proposed new DLR stations for the Thamesmead extension have been released as part of the final consultation on the plans.
  Proposed extension route (c) TfL
  For the extension, a new station will be built at Beckton Riverside, with two tunnels under the River Thames linking to another new station at Thamesmead.  Previous consultations on the plans came, unsurprisingly, overwhelmingly in favour of a rail link, and this final stage is looking at more detailed plans for th
  
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• One of the world’s rarest Bibles goes on display at St Paul’s Cathedral

  05-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One of the great treasures of the English language is going on display for the first time, offering a rare chance to see a book that was once hunted down and burned as heresy.The book is one of only three surviving copies of the 1526 Tyndale New Testament, a translation so controversial that King Henry VIII’s agents spent years trying to suppress it and track down its creator across Europe.
  Its significance is difficult to overstate.
  Not only did it help fuel the religious upheavals that t
  
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• First of 10 new Elizabeth line trains rolls off Derby production line

  05-06-2026 12:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first of ten additional Elizabeth line trains has rolled off the production line in Derby and is now undergoing testing ahead of entering passenger service later this year.
  Unit 345071 testing at Derby Litchurch Lane Works (c) Alstom
  Built by Alstom at its Litchurch Lane Works, the nine-carriage train has completed assembly and is now running on the factory’s test track for final checks before moving to London for a programme of trials on the national rail network and the Elizabeth lin
  
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• A pride of painted lions has arrived in London

  05-06-2026 12:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  If you wander around central London over the next few weeks, you might spy some brightly coloured lions.They’re the latest in the genre of “get artists to paint a sculpture and sell it for charity”, and put them on display in public places for a walking trail.
  And, topically, they’re football-themed, as each lion/lioness is resting a paw on a football.
  The trail runs until 10th August and stretches across Westminster and Victoria. Two of the lions seemed to be missing, un
  
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• Advantage passengers as Barons Court tube station reopens all four platforms

  05-06-2026 11:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Good news for Barons Court tube station users as its long-running repair works are set to take a brief break, allowing trains to serve all four platforms again for a couple of weeks.Passengers have been unable to use the eastbound platforms since mid-January, after what started as a routine repair project turned into a longer rally when engineers uncovered additional structural problems. The restoration of the eastbound platform’s worn edges and corroded staircase canopy columns is now nea
  
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• Council seizes 2,500 obstructive rental e-bikes from borough streets

  05-06-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  More than 2,500 abandoned and obstructively parked rental e-bikes have been removed from the streets of Kensington and Chelsea since the council launched a dedicated enforcement operation at the start of 2025.
  K&C Council’s bike pound
  The council says that enforcement activity has intensified this year, with their staff seizing more than 1,200 e-bikes during the first five months of 2026 alone. That follows the removal of a further 1,315 bikes during 2025, bringing the total number sei
  
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• The London Buzz – 3rd June 2026

  03-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Cheapside looking east
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Calls for City Hall to do more to incentivise housebuilding in London as slowdown continues Enfield Dispatch
  Greenwich Council will finally introduce an initial 29 parking bays for Lime bikes – and is set to sign an agreement so Forest bike users will have to use them too. Greenwich Wire
  A derelict garage site in Southall is set to be transformed into four family homes under plans announced by Ea
  
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• New photos show HS2’s first tunnel safety door being installed

  03-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first safety-critical cross-passage door has been installed inside HS2’s 10-mile-long Chiltern Tunnel, as the railway progresses from a tunnelling site into a working railway.
  Cross-passage door test-installation within the Chiltern Tunnel (c) HS2
  A total of 300 cross-passage doors will eventually be installed in HS2’s tunnels, linking the northbound and southbound bores and providing emergency access routes between them. The 60kg doors are designed to withstand the pressure chan
  
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• Tickets Alert: Late openings at the Royal Society’s annual science exhibition

  03-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The Royal Society is opening its London building to the public for a few days for its annual summer science exhibition, and they’re having a couple of late openings as well.The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, commonly referred to as the Royal Society, is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world, having been founded in 1660.
  Now housed in a grand building off The Mall, they hold public talks, but also their annual science exhibition.
  This yea
  
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• Jack White: These thoughts may disappear

  03-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The former guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock duo the White Stripes has been turning his hand to making art, and is now filling a London gallery with his works.White describes his work as ‘hardware store art’, a synthesis of carpentry, upholstery, assemblage and reappropriation using materials ranging from resins, paints and epoxies to utilitarian materials and found objects.
  As an exhibition, it’s a mix of sculptures, paintings and photography.
  It opens weakly though, whi
  
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• Royal Observatory offering less than half-price tickets in June

  03-06-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is slashing the cost of a visit this month, with heavily discounted entry available every Tuesday in June.
  Greenwich Royal Observatory (c) ianVisits
  Usually, tickets to the hilltop attraction cost £24 for adults and £12 for children, but on Tuesdays in June, everyone can visit for a flat rate of £10 per person.
  Perched above Greenwich Park, the Royal Observatory is one of London’s most significant scientific landmarks. It is the home of
  
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• Quentin Blake’s £12.5 million museum of illustrations opens its doors

  03-06-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  London has a new museum, and it’s also the largest of its kind in the world devoted entirely to hand-drawn illustrations.Founded by prolific artist Sir Quentin Blake, it’s actually the second home for the museum after its temporary existence as the House of Illustration in King’s Cross. However, when a former industrial building that’s been empty since the 1950s came up for grabs, they saw the opportunity to create a much larger permanent collection in London.
  Due to open
  
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• The London Buzz – 2nd June 2026

  02-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  (The) Strand
  A homeless man who lived around the side of Sainsburys Putney for years has died from heatstroke in the heatwave Putney News
  How Lime removed restrictions to let Deliveroo riders go at full speed through London’s parks London Centric
  The row over the fate of three park cafes on Hampstead Heath could see a decision within days. Kilburn Times
  Work is underway on more than 650 new homes as part of Barking Riverside’s expanding neighbourho
  
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• Rooftop bar overlooking Parliament reopens for the summer

  02-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A rooftop bar in the centre of London with views across to the Houses of Parliament has reopened for the summer.
  (c) Westminster Rooftop Terrace Bar
  The rooftop bar is on top of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the grand terracotta and brick building on the corner of Parliament Square between the Supreme Court and the Treasury. Sitting up top, it offers pretty much uninterrupted views across to Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
  Entry is £15 per person and includes a welcome gl
  
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• Tallest, biggest, blandest? Future City skyscraper renamed to ‘One London’

  02-06-2026 15:11 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  What will eventually become the City of London’s tallest building has changed its name and, in doing so, doubtless caused perpetual headscratching about its address.
  1 Undershaft in the city cluster (c) Dbox
  What was to be called 1 Understaft, for the simple reason that is its address, is now to be known as One London – because that’s the sort of branding that marketing people think is a good idea.
  It also means that the address will be more complicated as One London, 1 Undersh
  
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• Lost Music Venues review: The V&A recreates the sticky-floored magic of a night out

  02-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Anyone who spent their youth standing in sticky-floored venues, clutching a warm pint, waiting for a band that would either become famous or, more usually, not, will find the V&A’s new Lost Music Venues exhibition an evocative trip back in time.With a layout styled as a club, with ticket desk, cloakroom, a graffiti-covered greenroom and oh yes… you’ll shudder when you see the toilets, the exhibition has dialled up the atmosphere.
  All it needed was the smell of cigarettes a
  
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• UK would block Indian billionaire raising BT stake

  28-05-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Officials cite need to maintain sovereign control over critical national infrastructure
  
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• Biggest UK mobile groups suffer worst year of customer losses

  24-05-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Incumbents are increasingly ceding ground to virtual rivals who pay to access their network
  
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• BT is finally getting on top of its altnet threat

  21-05-2026 19:26 via ft.com
  UK telecom has put up a fight as its rivals slow their rate of sprawl
  
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• Application made for 882 new homes next to Sudbury Hill tube station

  21-05-2026 16:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A planning application has been filed for an 882 housing development on a brownfield site next to Sudbury Hill tube station in west London.
  View of the development site – source: planning documents
  The plot of land sits between the tube station and a former ten-storey office building, which has been converted into housing. The new housing development would sit on the former office car park.
  Site outline over Google maps
  The development would see seven new blocks constructed around the exis
  
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• Government cuts VAT on family attraction tickets for the summer holidays

  21-05-2026 14:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  It’s going to be a bit cheaper for families to visit paid-for venues this summer, as the government has announced a temporary cut in VAT on ticket prices.The cut in VAT, from 20% to 5%, will run from 25th June through to 1st September and applies across the UK. The cut will apply to admission tickets for families to a range of attractions, including the cost of children’s meals at the venues, but only applies to venues and events where children are included in the tickets.
  So parents
  
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• Touch ancient poo at the Natural History Museum’s Jurassic sea monsters exhibition

  21-05-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Natural History Museum is inviting people to touch some poo in a new exhibition about the monsters of the Jurassic Oceans. It’s hundreds of millions old though, so you’re touching a stone. A pooy stone which will still make children (and some adults) go a bit ick at the thought.The exhibition proper opens with a cast of an Ichthyosaur found by Joseph Anning in 1811 – a discovery that would spur his sister, Mary to become one of the leading early fossil hunters.
  And naturall
  
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• Forgotten medieval pie recipe revived in the City of London

  21-05-2026 11:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A long-forgotten medieval dairy pie is set to be tasted again in the City of London for the first time in centuries – although thankfully it’s only the recipe that’s ancient, not the pie itself.
  London’s Floden may originate from Fladen. Photo by Christian Michelides CC BY-SA 4.0
  The dish, known as floden, will be cooked up from an ancient recipe during Milk, Memory and Cheesecake – organised by the Jewish Square Mile Foundation and Shoreditch Trust, running at The
  
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• BT chief warns AI boom will push up mobile phone prices

  21-05-2026 10:47 via ft.com
  Allison Kirkby expects the likes of Apple and Samsung to react to chip shortages by raising handset prices
  
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• One of the UK’s biggest steel pan gatherings is coming to the South Bank

  21-05-2026 10:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Southbank Centre will pulse with the sound of Caribbean steel pan music as more than 500 musicians and over 25 steel bands take over the venue for a weekend-long celebration.
  The weekend marks 75 years since the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) performed live on the South Bank during the Festival of Britain in 1951 – widely regarded as the first steel band performance in the UK.
  A steelband in Trinidad and Tobago by Kip1234 CC BY-SA 4.0
  Across 25th and 26th July 2026, th
  
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• Southern train becomes the first to use Great British Railways colours

  21-05-2026 09:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The first train in Great British Railways colours has been unveiled — and passengers could soon start spotting the red, white and blue livery at stations in the south east of England.
  (c) Department for Transport (DfT)
  The rebranded Class 387 train is operated by Southern and was officially unveiled at Brighton ahead of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) joining the growing publicly owned rail network on 31st May.
  For the spotters – it’s number 387172, which you can track on RealTi
  
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• HS2’s original plan relied on a railway signalling system that didn’t exist

  21-05-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  On Tuesday, it was confirmed that HS2 railway will use the European Train Control System (ETCS) signalling system, which seemed like a small administrative announcement. ETCS is the future of railway signalling and is already being rolled out in the UK, so it’s unlikely the announcement surprised anyone.
  That was until this morning, when the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, revealed that the original plan was for HS2 to effectively invent a brand-new automatic train-operating signalling system t
  
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