Telecom news

• PLDT and Omnispace team-up for space-based 5G tech

  17-08-2022 18:14
  
  Philippine telco PLDT’s wireless subsidiary Smart has teamed up with US satellite and comms firm Omnispace to develop space-based 5G applications.
  The collaboration has the mission statement of exploring and demonstrating the capabilities of 5G comms using LEO satellites. This follows the launch of the initial phase of Omnispace Spark – which the company describes as ‘the world’s first global 5G-capable satellite network – earlier this year.
  The Omnispace 5G NTN glo
  
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• ‘Hermès orange’ iPhone sparks Apple comeback in China 

  07-02-2026 08:00
  Vivid redesign and social media buzz lure Chinese buyers back after a prolonged slump
  
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• Photos from NASA’s manned space missions go on display in London

  06-02-2026 16:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  For just three days, visitors will be able to relive the thrilling dawn of the space age, stepping into the era when humanity first dared to leave Earth behind.
  Buzz Aldrin is seen clinging to the spacecraft during his spacewalk as he orbits Earth at over 17,000mph on Gemini 12 – 13th November 1966. Image Credit: NASA / ASU / Andy Saunders
  All because an exhibition of newly restored photographs from NASA’s Mercury and Gemini missions goes on display, revealing the moment when our blu
  
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• Japan’s KDDI finds up to $1.5bn in fictitious revenues

  06-02-2026 15:32
  Telecoms group postpones third-quarter results amid probe into ‘suspicions regarding inappropriate transactions’
  
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• Discount sale on tickets to see I’m Sorry, Prime Minister

  06-02-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Fans of the 1980s political satire, Yes Minister, will probably know there’s a stage version at the moment – but not that there’s a sale on tickets.
  From Yes Minister co-writer Jonathan Lynn comes I’m Sorry, Prime Minister – the final act between Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey.Jim Hacker (Griff Rhys Jones) is back — older, no wiser, and still gloriously out of his depth. Dreaming of a peaceful retirement at Hacker College, Oxford, Jim instead collides with a very
  
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• Arch over the trainshed: A different way to fund Liverpool Street station’s upgrade

  06-02-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A rival design to Network Rail’s plans to build offices above Liverpool Street station has been submitted to the City of London, days ahead of a meeting to decide if the Network Rail scheme will go ahead.
  Liverpool Street station during the Christmas 2025 closure (c) ianVisits
  The station does need a revamp, mainly to fix a number of problems that weren’t really thought about during the last rebuild 40 years ago – mostly to do with surging passenger traffic and accessibility.
  T
  
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• Why the Mendini exhibition made me feel like I shouldn’t be there

  06-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Sometimes you can walk into an exhibition and think, it’s all very good, but still walk out with a bit of an uncomfortable shrug about what you’ve seen.
  Possibly because a designer who was at the cutting edge of design when he was active has now been copied so often that the radical is now familiar. If you lived through those early years, the work is exciting. If not, it can feel a bit like walking into the shop that furnished my teenage bedroom – Habitat.That’s the chall
  
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• London Museum staff vote for strike action in pay dispute

  06-02-2026 10:45 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Staff at the London Museum could go on strike in a pay dispute, according to the Prospect Union.The union says a pay claim was submitted in March 2025, but an employer offer was not made until September 2025. This and two other subsequent offers were rejected by members, with the final offer, £420 consolidated +1%, then another £150 consolidated being imposed.
  The union said this led to the industrial action ballot.
  In the ballot, 88% of votes were in favour of taking strike action,
  
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• Euston station rail passengers facing delays on Avanti and LNR services today

  06-02-2026 08:36 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Rail passengers travelling in and out of Euston station face disruption today after a fault on the West Coast Main Line caused delays and cancellations between London Euston and Watford Junction.
  Euston station
  Network Rail has reported a failure of the overhead line equipment on the busy stretch of railway, meaning fewer trains than normal are able to run between the two stations.
  As a result, Network Rail expects to run a reduced service for the rest of the day.
  The disruption is affecting lon
  
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• With tunnels under way, attention turns back to HS2’s missing Euston station

  05-02-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Now that HS2 has started digging tunnels to Euston station, thoughts are returning to building the station, and the government is now looking for developers to do just that.
  Euston station site Oct 2021 (c) ianVisits
  In an early market engagement document, the Department for Transport (DfT) says that it is exploring a public-private partnership model to deliver the HS2 Euston Station with private finance.
  The DfT’s proposal is to appoint a private company under a design, build, finance and
  
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• Balham rail bridge gets deep clean and new lighting scheme

  05-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The national rail bridge that spans Balham High Road, next to Balham station, has been given a deep clean and a new lighting scheme to improve its appearance.
  Balham High Road bridge (c) Wandsworth Council
  The bridge is the latest to benefit from Wandsworth Council’s £2m schedule of improvements to rail bridges and underpasses, which is being funded by its contributions from local property developers.
  The rail underpass on Balham High Road was deep‑cleaned before better pigeon&
  
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• Paddington could host TfL’s first sensory-friendly “quiet space” for travellers

  05-02-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Transport for London (TfL) is exploring how it can make journeys easier for passengers who find the city’s transport system overwhelming — by trialling a calm, quiet space for neurodivergent customers inside one of its busiest stations.
  Paddington Elizabeth line platforms
  In a preliminary engagement notice, Transport for London said it wants to hear from the market about possible off-the-shelf solutions that could provide a low-stimulus refuge for people who struggle with noise, crow
  
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• BT stems customer losses as broadband competition abates

  05-02-2026 11:50
  Chief executive Allison Kirkby says she tends to ignore ‘noise’ of short sellers betting against company
  
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• Patrick Drahi shifts assets worth billions away from creditors

  05-02-2026 06:00
  New filings reveal the full extent to which the tycoon has weakened the position of lenders to his telecoms business
  
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• London Cable Car isn’t always expensive – here’s how to ride for under £2

  04-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The London Cable Car, often derided for the high cost of using it, does have a rather cheap way of crossing the Thames by dangleway if you want.Ordinarily, a single ticket costs £7, and a return costs £13 (soon to rise to £13.50).
  However, if you don’t mind buying a pack of 10 tickets in one go, then they will cost you just £19 for ten trips across the river.
  So, instead of paying £7, you can pay just £1.90 per trip.
  So long as you make at least three tr
  
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• West End streets could become a vast new public plaza under latest plans

  04-02-2026 15:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The wide road between Piccadilly Circus and St James Park could be turned into a pedestrian plaza after Westminster Council and the Crown Estate decided to proceed with previously announced plans.
  Early concept from 2025 (c) Westminster Council
  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.
  There would also be wider improvemen
  
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• From cassocks to coins: A brief history of Archbishops in Lambeth Palace’s library

  04-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Archbishop of Canterbury has regenerated into – gasp – a woman, and now her library has an exhibition about some of the past Archbishops.The exhibition, in the Lambeth Palace Library, is mainly a collection of objects relating to a range of Archbishops, with documents and drawings in one room, and, in a second, more secure room, the gold and silver that the church uses to remind people of the virtues of charity.
  In a darkened space, the cabinets open to display an archbishop&rsqu
  
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• The year Hyde Park was sold to propety developers for housing

  04-02-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Did you know that Hyde Park shouldn’t exist as a large park, because it was once sold for development into housing plots?Had that been carried out, the Serpentine wouldn’t exist, Kensington Palace would be surrounded by houses, and the Winter Wonderland would have its funfair somewhere else.
  To explain, it helps to know how Hyde Park (originally Hide Park) came to be.
  Hyde Park owes its origins to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when King Henry VIII seized open land on the outski
  
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• See the shortlist for the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

  04-02-2026 07:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026 has opened for online voting, with 24 shortlisted images selected for the public to choose from.
  The shortlist was drawn from over 60,000 entries submitted by photographers in 113 countries and territories, alongside the 100 winning images announced in October 2025.
  The images range from large marine gatherings to intimate wildlife behaviour and also address environmental pressures such as shrinking sea ice, human&ndas
  
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• Russian spy spacecraft have intercepted Europe’s key satellites, officials believe

  04-02-2026 06:00
  Unencrypted European communications are being targeted by Moscow
  
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• RNIB urges accessibility overhaul as Great British Railways is developed

  03-02-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  For many people with vision impairments, Britain’s railways remain a place of stress, uncertainty and missed journeys, says a report from the Royal National Institute of Blind People. (RNIB)
  (c) RNIB
  According to a survey by the RNIB, more than one in three respondents said they cannot make the train journeys they want or need to make.
  Every stage of the journey can become a barrier. From planning a trip and buying a ticket to finding the right platform or boarding a train, inconsistency i
  
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• Watford is getting its own localised Monopoly board game

  03-02-2026 16:20 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Watford is getting its own locally themed Monopoly board game, and the public are being asked to suggest locations for the game spaces and community chest.The new game will see the town’s landmarks replacing the likes of Mayfair and Park Lane from the original classic London Monopoly board.
  The decision to make a local game for Watford followed an open competition that reduced the shortlist to 20 towns across the UK, before the manufacturer settled on Watford.
  They already make local varia
  
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• Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth to turn blue with bronze sculpture by Tschabalala Self

  03-02-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The date has been set for the next Fourth Plinth art commission to go on display in Trafalgar Square.
  Lady in Blue by Tschabalala Self – photo: James O’Jenkins
  In September, New York based artist Tschabalala Self’s sculpture of a young woman in blue will go on display, replacing Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) by Teresa Margolles, which is currently in situ.
  Made of bronze, the new work will be patinated in Lapis Lazuli blue, a rare and refined pigment us
  
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• Free outdoor exhibition turns parks, shopping centres and churches into open-air galleries

  03-02-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Thirty large reproductions of National Gallery paintings are popping up around Croydon, as part of the NG’s Art On Your Doorstep project to display its artworks in public spaces.
  Previous installation in Stoke on Trent (c) Stoke on Trent council
  Thirty paintings have been installed across the borough and will remain on display until 5th July 2026, with sites in the town centre including Queen’s Gardens, Croydon Minster, Whitgift Shopping Centre and Park Hill Park.
  Additional works ha
  
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• Virgin Media O2 owners to seal £2bn acquisition of UK broadband rival

  03-02-2026 06:00
  Telefónica and Liberty Global are leading a takeover of Netomnia in a deal to close gap with BT’s Openreach
  
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• Verizon taps candidates to replace executive once seen as next chief

  02-02-2026 12:00
  Leadership turmoil at largest US mobile carrier comes amid gains by competitors and customer frustration
  
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• London Alleys: Buckingham Mews, Victoria, SW1

  02-02-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This upmarket little mews in an area where Ocado and Waitrose vans are commonplace is a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace, although its name is relatively recent.Despite its proximity to one of London’s busiest tourist attractions, its back street location is remarkably quiet and peaceful. Leading off Stafford Place, it was originally, and unsurprisingly, called Stafford Mews, as it was built as stabling for houses on Buckingham Gate, facing the palace.
  OS map 1878 showing Bucking
  
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• Get tickets to visit the House of Dreams

  30-01-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  There is an outwardly unremarkable terraced house in South London that conceals an explosion of colour and art within – the House of Dreams.It’s also open to the public, but tickets tend to sell out months in advance.
  So, call this a reminder that if you haven’t visited, then it’s a good time to book some tickets, as the wait can be lengthy.
  The House of Dreams is the domestic home of the artist and designer, Stephen Wright, who over 20 years ago, turned his back on train
  
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• From this Sunday: London Northwestern and West Midlands trains become publicly owned

  30-01-2026 15:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This weekend, two more train operators will pass into public ownership as London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway are brought under state control and folded into the future Great British Railways (GBR) network.
  (c) London Northwestern Railway
  Between them, the two brands cover a large swathe of the Midlands and the West Coast Main Line. London Northwestern Railway runs services linking Liverpool and Birmingham with London Euston, while West Midlands Railway operates local and regio
  
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• BAFTA’s restaurant is open to the public for breakfasts

  30-01-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Normally reserved for film and television insiders, the private Members’ Bar & Restaurant inside BAFTA’s Piccadilly headquarters was recently opened to the public to use as well.
  (c) BAFTA
  The restaurant, usually accessible only to BAFTA members and industry guests, sits on the top floor of the academy’s historic building and is better known as a networking hub for actors, directors and producers than a place to book a table.
  The decision to open the building in the morning
  
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