Telecom news

• Google lines up $1bn investment in Bharti Airtel

  28-01-2022 01:00
  Back in 2020, Google announced plans to invest $10 billion in India over the next five-to-seven years, via the newly created the Google for India Digitization Fund. At the time, Google noted that the investments would be a mix of equity acquisitions, partnerships, and operational and infrastructure deals, with a focus on helping provide Indian customers with services meeting their unique needs.Just a few months after launch, the India Digitization Fund made its first major investment&helli
  
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• The London Buzz – 26th June 2026

  26-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Old London – East Ham High Street
  Today’s London news round-up:
  A huge fire ripped through a department store in Peckham with 100 firefighters needed to tackle the blaze. Metro
  Outrage as woman, 80, blocked from going up stairs at London tube station – ‘you’ve got legs’ Mirror
  Why is the City charging dockless bike operators only £31,860 a year? EC1 Echo
  The Green Party has held the Hackney Central ward seat in a by-election triggered by one of the party
  
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• Roof top bar opening overlooking Russell Square

  26-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A rooftop bar is opening this summer, which promises views across central London.
  (c) Imperial Hotel
  It’s based on the top floor of the Imperial Hotel overlooking Russell Square, which has been undergoing renovations over the past few years. The hotel is famous for its 1970s regimented modern frontage, which has been restored and a new floor added on top.
  Along the entire width of the top of the building, they’ve created a roof terrace that they say can seat 330 people. Described as
  
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• Battle of Britain flypast over central London on Sunday

  26-06-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Look to the skies on Sunday lunchtime (28th June), as a WWII aircraft will (weather permitting) fly over central London.
  Lancaster bomber flypast in June 2012 (c) ianVisits
  Reasons are never given in the air traffic notice, but the location is Green Park, and the flypast is by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), so it’s likely to be for the Bomber Command memorial next to Hyde Park Corner.
  They’ve done similar flypasts on the same last Sunday in June before, so it’s a
  
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• Smithfield and Billingsgate markets set for Royal Docks move by end of 2029

  26-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The City of London’s markets at Smithfield and Billingsgate are expected to move to their new site in the Royal Docks by the end of 2029, according to evidence presented earlier this week.
  Smithfield meat market on Christmas Eve
  The City of London, which runs the two markets, had planned to move them to a site in Dagenham Docks before soaring costs made the plan unviable (and a 775-year-old charter made it difficult). The City still wanted to close the markets but offered support to the tr
  
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• SpaceX plans Starlink mobile push into US consumer market

  26-06-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Move would test whether group can turn sky-high ambition into a mass-market phone business
  
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• Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans Starlink mobile push into US consumer market

  26-06-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Move would test whether group can turn sky-high ambition into a mass-market phone business
  
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• Tesco’s return to broadband should be a profitable side hustle

  25-06-2026 18:53 via ft.com
  Retailer has a good chance of snagging market share thanks to its brand recognition and captive customer base
  
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• Parliament spending £2m a week to stop crumbling palace falling down

  25-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The cost of the major repairs needed for the Houses of Parliament is rising by up to £420 million per year due to ongoing delays in starting work on it.
  Victoria Tower from Millbank Tower (c) ianVisits
  That comes from a National Audit Office report into the ongoing issue of what to do with the crumbling edifice of the UK Parliament estate. It’s an issue that’s been kicked down the grass for so long that the scaffolding poles that prop up parts of the building are in danger of b
  
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• Leighton House exhibition explores how its Arab Hall was designed

  25-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  In its centenary year as a public building, Leighton House is looking back at how its famous Arab Hall was designed and built.Featuring original designs by architect George Aitchison, ceramicist William De Morgan and illustrator Walter Crane, alongside works by Leighton and ceramics from his collection, the exhibition offers visitors a window into the collaborative process that brought the Arab Hall to life.
  Made up mostly of drawings and sketches, the exhibition shows some of the thinking behin
  
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• London Transport Museum reveals plans for £26 million refurbishment

  25-06-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The London Transport Museum (LTM) is planning a £26 million redevelopment of its Covent Garden home, creating more exhibition space and increasing capacity to accommodate growing visitor numbers.Regular visitors will know that in a corner of the museum, there’s a large graphic on the fire escape showing a futuristic image of London in the year 2026. As part of the refurbishment, that image is to be taken down. Not because it’s out of date, but because that’s where the mus
  
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• Tesco Mobile explores getting back into broadband

  25-06-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Move by UK’s largest mobile virtual network operator would add further competition to highly fragmented market
  
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• Stalled subsea cables threaten Middle East digital ambitions

  25-06-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Enduring suspensions risk denting confidence in region as destination for AI and cloud investment
  
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• Stalled subsea cable projects threaten Middle East digital ambitions

  25-06-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Enduring suspensions risk denting confidence in region as destination for AI and cloud investment
  
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• The London Buzz – 24th June 2026

  24-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Old London – Balham High Road, circa 1904
  Greggs has decided to shut [a small number of] stores in London due to the extreme heatwave. Standard
  The man regarded as the ‘architect’ of the ‘new town’ in Enfield has quit his job. Enfield Dispatch
  Buy Back Brixton submits ‘competitive’ bid for the purchase of Brixton Village and Market Row Brixton Buzz
  Several London councils have today launched court action against the Ma
  
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• Tickets Alert: Early openings and late closings at Horizon 22 viewing gallery

  24-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  If you want to watch the sun rise or set from the top of London’s highest viewing gallery, Horizon 22 now has semi-regular early and late openings.
  Early morning at Horizon 22 viewing gallery (c) ianVisits
  However, unlike the free daytime visits, these “out of hours” openings are charged for, which also means they’re quieter and less crowded.
  The early bird tickets cost £15 per person (including a hot/cold drink), and open the tower for visiting on selected Mondays,
  
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• Drones to patrol Romford railways in trespass crackdown

  24-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The railways around Romford are going to see a trial of drones to monitor the railway for trespass incidents and to identify infrastructure issues early.
  Romford drone trials (c) Network Rail
  GBR Anglia will start the trials of a new BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) drone technology later this summer and will allow Network Rail teams to access live aerial coverage up to 400 metres from Romford Rail Operating Centre, providing faster access to information compared with standard drone systems a
  
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• Tickets Alert: The heritage tube trains are back out on the rails

  24-06-2026 14:10 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Next month, a restored 1930s Art Deco tube train and the Sarah Siddons locomotive will return to the London Underground, offering rides along the Metropolitan line.Apart from the charm of riding in the old tube train, there’s the fun of watching people in the stations as you go through and wave to the crowds who marvel at the sight of the old train.
  If you pick the Amersham and Watford route, that includes a rare chance to use the “north curve” on the line between Rickmans
  
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• Exhibition tells the 300 year history of St Martin in the Fields

  24-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Later this year, St Martin-in-the-Fields will mark the 300th anniversary of the current church on the site – and they’ve opened a free tercentennial exhibition in its crypt.There’s been a church on the site next to modern-day Trafalgar Square since at least 1222, when records show that the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London were in dispute over control of a church at this location.
  The church’s name, St Martin, is a reference to St Martin of Tours, who is often
  
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• Tickets Alert: Visit the Logos Hope, the world’s largest floating book fair

  24-06-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A large ship, the Logos Hope, is visiting London for a few weeks, and you can go on board for a look around.
  The Logos Hope in Kiel – VollwertBIT CC BY-SA 3.0
  Described as the “world’s largest floating bookfair”, the Logos Hope is a former passenger ferry built in 1973 to service routes in northern Europe, before being refitted by Operation Mobilisation (OM) as a travelling Christian missionary ship in 2005-9.
  During the refurbishment, a new deck was inserted into the for
  
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• Visiting Our Lady of the Rosary and St Patrick, Walthamstow

  24-06-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This bricky mass of a Catholic church has been in this part of Walthamstow ever since the very first houses were built here.From the street, it looks as if the church was built at an odd angle, but that’s because the ancient Blackhorse Road is very curvy and you’re standing on one of the curves. The housing that developed around here in the late 1890s is in regimented lines, and the church actually sits in a straight line with the housing.
  The Catholic church was one of three added a
  
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• The London Buzz – 23rd June 2026

  23-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Charing Cross railway bridge
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Overnight storms bring flooding across TfL network BBC News
  Knocking down a former Watford bank for a six-storey 24-flat building has been recommended for approval. Watford Observer
  An Enfield resident has been prosecuted over a fly-tipping incident – for the second time in as many years. Enfield Dispatch
  A video installation in the National Portrait Gallery has been removed following a dis
  
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• Work starts on Thameslink upgrade to cut delays through central London

  23-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Work has begun to upgrade a signalling system on the Thameslink line as part of measures to improve reliability on one of the busiest parts of the rail network.
  (c) Network Rail
  To help reduce delays, Network Rail engineers are installing a backup train detection system between London Blackfriars and Farringdon, so if one fails, a secondary system can take over.
  Train detection systems play a vital role in keeping services running safely and on time by monitoring trains’ positions and move
  
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• London to gain another rooftop viewpoint as Tower Hill scheme moves forward

  23-06-2026 16:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A large office development near the Tower of London has been redesigned to remove the proposed heritage and cultural centre, but planned access to a roof terrace has been retained.
  The Mark / 3XN / Planning document
  The new building, which secured planning permission in 2023, will replace a rather tired 1960s glass-clad office block with a more restrained brick-clad office block with a series of stepped-back floors and roof terraces.
  The development sits on the busy road that runs past the Tower
  
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• Bedford rail crash disruption set to last most of the week

  21-06-2026 14:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Following Friday’s serious rail accident at Bedford, passengers are being warned that services on the Midlands Main Line will be disrupted for much of the week.
  Due to the accident, there will be no Thameslink services north of Luton and no East Midlands Railway (EMR) services south of Bedford for most of this week, with a limited rail-replacement bus service operating between Luton and Bedford.
  As much as possible, rail passengers are being asked to avoid travelling through the affected a
  
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• UK telecoms groups introduce ‘kill switch’ to cut phone theft from stores

  21-06-2026 07:21 via ft.com
  Virgin Media O2 and VodafoneThree’s move comes after Apple and Samsung resisted calls to adopt broader measures
  
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• Outlander costumes to go on display in free London exhibition

  19-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Fans of the fantasy history TV show Outlander are in for a treat as costumes and props from the show will go on display in central London next month.Based on Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling books, “Outlander” follows Claire Fraser, a former WWII nurse who travels through a mysterious stone circle to 18th-century Scotland, where she falls in love with Highland warrior Jamie Fraser. Claire and Jamie have transported audiences from the rugged Scottish Highlands to the streets of Pari
  
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• Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani files for blockbuster Jio float

  19-06-2026 15:10 via ft.com
  Listing of Reliance Industries’ telecoms business expected to be India’s largest ever
  
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• The summer sale theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct

  19-06-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This week’s sale and discount theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct.
  Much Ado About Nothing
  Therein do men from children nothing differ
  From £7 – SAVE UP TO 38%
   The Enormous Crocodile – Lyric Hammersmith
  Opens 29th July 2026
  For my lunch today I would like… a nice juicy little child!
  From £10 – SAVE UP TO 47%
   The Tiger Who Came to Tea
  The Tiger Who Came to Tea is back for seconds!
  From £13 – SAVE UP TO 38%
   Relics
  
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• Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani lines up blockbuster Jio float

  19-06-2026 13:24 via ft.com
  Listing of Reliance Industries’ telecoms business expected to be India’s largest ever
  
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