Telecom news

• Who said smartphone growth was over?

  08-02-2017 18:34
  
  Smartphone stagnation? What stagnation? 2016’s global smartphone sales are up year-on-year pretty much everywhere according to latest figures released by GfK.
  Telecoms.com regularly looks to GfK as a good indicator of regional smartphone sales, and the latest numbers suggest Russia is beginning to fulfil some of the much-hyped potential when everyone bundled it into the BRIC emerging economies. The numbers say Eastern Europe, which obviously contains Russia, saw smartphone shipments g
  
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• TfL trials new ‘calm space’ at Ealing Broadway station

  04-09-2026 17:28 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) is trialling a new “calm space” at Ealing Broadway station, offering passengers a quieter place to retreat to if the busy station environment feels overwhelming.
  (c) TfL
  The temporary space, located beyond the ticket barriers, was installed in partnership with NOOK and autism research charity Autistica and will remain at the station until Friday 2nd October 2026.
  It is intended particularly for neurodivergent passengers and others who may need somewhere wit
  
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• Tickets Alert: Nighttime opening of Severndroog Castle

  04-09-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Severndroog Castle, a tall folly in southeast London that offers clear views across the city, will be open one evening in November to watch the fireworks across the city.Because the space on top of the tower is quite small, they’re offering timed slots throughout the evening of Saturday 7th November, from 6:20pm to 8:40pm. Once you’ve climbed up to the top of the tower, you’ll have 20 minutes to take in a 360-degree view of the lights of London.
  Their tearoom will also be open
  
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• Free light show on the front of St Paul’s Cathedral

  04-09-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There’s going to be a free light show on the front of St Paul’s Cathedral for ten nights this month, as part of a pair of installations by Ukrainian artist Mykola Kabluka.
  Visualisations of ‘Soul’ and ‘Point of Unity’ by Mykola Kabluka. Visualisations by Expolight.
  Kabluka is a lighting designer and contemporary artist, and the founder and creative director of Expolight, a Ukrainian lighting design and media art studio. Presented in the UK for the first time,
  
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• Tickets Alert: Open weekend at the LT Musuem’s Acton depot

  04-09-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  London Transport Museum is again opening its Acton storage depot later this month, offering a chance to explore thousands of objects normally hidden from public view.The depot, next to Acton Town tube station, is the working store for much of London Transport Museum’s collection. While the main museum in Covent Garden displays a relatively small selection, the Depot houses items from a collection of more than 320,000 objects.
  September’s open days will have a design theme, highlighti
  
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• More Tube tunnels switch on mobile coverage in recent months

  03-09-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The ongoing rollout of mobile phone coverage on the London Underground continues, with nine more sections switched on in the past month.
  Based on a comparison of the June and August 2026 coverage maps, the new sections where phones now work include:
  Bakerloo lineEdgware Road to MaryleboneJubilee lineSwiss Cottage to St John’s WoodPiccadilly lineKnightsbridge to Hyde Park CornerNorthern lineEuston (Bank branch) to Camden Town
  Oval to Stockwell
  South Wimbledon to MordenSub-surface linesGreat
  
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• Tickets Alert: Free exhibition of Freddie Mercury music memorabilia

  03-09-2026 14:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Ahead of a major auction of music memorabilia, there will be a free exhibition of the lots up for sale, ranging from as large as a grand piano often used by Freddie Mercury down to one of his microphones.
  Musicland Studios’ Yamaha C3 Grand Piano Played by Freddie Mercury (c) Propstore
  The collection also includes early working lyrics handwritten by Mercury for “My Love Is Dangerous” and “Let’s Turn It On,” both from his 1985 debut solo album, Mr. Bad Guy. Feat
  
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• Heathrow expansion could revive plans for Elizabeth line extension to Staines

  03-09-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An extension of the Elizabeth line to Staines-upon-Thames could be back on the cards after a call for expanding Heathrow Airport to come with improved public transport links.
  Hypothetical Elizabeth line map with Heathrow extensions
  In its response to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) consultation on proposed amendments to the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS), the London Assembly Transport Committee wrote a letter to the Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, Secretary of S
  
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• Royal Mint releases Star Trek branded 50 pence coins

  03-09-2026 11:20 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The Royal Mint has released a limited edition series of 50p coins to mark Star Trek’s 60th anniversary, and it comes with royal approval.
  (c) Royal Mint
  The coins are collectables, so not the sort you would see in the shop anytime soon, but all coins issued by the Royal Mint need a formal proclamation from the King to authorise them.
  And a few months ago, King Charles III issued a proclamation announcing that it “appears to Us desirable to order that there should be made at Our Mint
  
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• VodafoneThree to launch debut TV service in challenge to UK rivals

  03-09-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  UK telecoms group hopes adding the TV platform will help it double its broadband business
  
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• Elliott builds stake in Deutsche Telekom and opposes T-Mobile US merger

  03-09-2026 01:05 via ft.com
  Activist hedge fund wants German telecoms company to focus on ways to boost shareholder value, such as stock buybacks
  
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• Private equity firms snap up more London-listed companies

  01-09-2026 11:25 via ft.com
  Bodycote agrees takeover by Veritas and Epiris to acquire Gamma Communications
  
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• London’s Tube finally escapes its mobile blackout

  01-09-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Transport for London says 121 subterranean stations and tunnel network to have coverage by year end
  
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• Leyton tube station’s new footbridge installed in overnight crane operation

  31-08-2026 11:48 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Regular users of Leyton tube station will see a big difference from this morning, as a large footbridge was installed overnight as part of the station’s step-free upgrade.
  Earlier in August (c) ianVisits
  Later in August (c) ianVisits
  At the moment, Leyton station’s entrance is little more than a shed above the tracks, a type of tube station in need of refurbishment, but it is also overcrowded during the rush hours.  The upgrade involves building an entirely new ticket hall next
  
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• First of ten new Elizabeth line trains enters passenger service

  29-08-2026 11:37 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first of the Elizabeth line’s ten new trains entered passenger service this morning.
  Elizabeth line train 345071 (c) TfL
  The ten additional trains were ordered in the dying days of the last government, partially to assist in keeping Alstom’s Derby factory functioning but also because Transport for London (TfL) was able to put forward a strong case that it needed them to deal with surging passenger numbers on the Elizabeth line.
  The capacity is needed not just because the Elizabet
  
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• Tickets Alert: 600th anniversary of the Harmondsworth Great Barn

  28-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  To mark the 600th anniversary of the Great Barn at Harmondsworth, a one-day conference will celebrate the building’s history and survival.The ‘new barn’ was built in 1426 by Winchester College, who owned the manor of Harmondsworth, to replace old barns used to store cereal crops. The manor had been bought a generation earlier by William of Wykeham, then Bishop of Winchester, as part of his endowment for Winchester College. Despite its agricultural origins, the barn has been hai
  
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• V&A museums to close for a couple of days due to strike action

  28-08-2026 15:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Several of the V&A Museums in London will close for a couple of days due to staff strike action.
  V&A East Museum (c) ianVisits
  PCS members at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum are taking coordinated strike action with Prospect over pay, conditions, and dignity at work.  This follows a vote in which 95.39% of PCS members voted for strike action, with an 87.04% turnout.
  PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote explained today that V&A members “have now been left with no c
  
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• Three floral displays coming to London

  28-08-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An increasing number of venues are filling up with floral arrangements to attract visitors, and three big ones are taking place in London.Strawberry Hill House
  10th to 13th September
  The gothic house in south-west London is filled with floral displays dotted around the building. They promise over 30 floral designers will be displaying during the exhibition.
  Prices are £30 per adult.
  Tickets and details here.
  St Mary le Strand
  22nd to 24th Septemer
  A three-day display, but also with an opti
  
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• Seiko’s designers let their imaginations loose for a tiny watch exhibition

  28-08-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  London Horophiles* may like a new exhibition showcasing seven custom-designed wristwatches based on designers’ interests rather than a commercial brief.This year’s project theme explores ‘passionately and obsessively crafted watches’, with each design inspired by a different watch component.
  Wristwatches are by their very nature quite small objects, and with just seven on display, this is naturally a small exhibition. But the seven watches are quite fascinating as objects
  
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• Aberdeen takes £200mn hit on failure of UK broadband provider

  28-08-2026 12:28 via ft.com
  Sale of Airband to Macquarie-backed rival is latest sign of distress in indebted ‘altnet’ sector
  
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• Aberdeen fund takes £200mn hit on failure of UK broadband provider

  28-08-2026 12:28 via ft.com
  Sale of Airband to Macquarie-backed rival is latest sign of distress in indebted ‘altnet’ sector
  
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• Thameslink to replace its notorious ‘ironing-board’ train seats

  28-08-2026 10:33 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Thameslink is planning to replace its much-criticised “ironing-board” seats with more comfortable cushions.
  Thameslink ironing boards
  Over the next two years, Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR) will be upgrading the standard-class seats across all 115 of its Thameslink trains, replacing more than 60,000 seat-base cushions and improving the backrests.
  First class seats will keep their existing backrest design but are also planned to benefit from improved seat base cushions. Seat back ta
  
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• Tickets Alert: Southeastern’s “Network SouthEast” train tour

  27-08-2026 18:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  To celebrate 40 years of Network SouthEast, Southeastern is running a special commemorative rail tour aboard its uniquely restored Network SouthEast Networker train.
  Southeastern’s Network SouthEast at the Greatest Gathering (c) ianVisits
  Beginning and ending at London Victoria, this one-off journey will travel across both Metro and Mainline routes to Ramsgate and Dover, passing some of the oldest stations on the Southeastern Railway network.
  As with last year’s sold-out tour and jus
  
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• The London Buzz – 27th August 2026

  27-08-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Old London – Waterloo Bridge, circa 1907
  Today’s London news round-up:
  The Children’s Black Book Fair UK (CBBF UK) has made history by becoming the largest event ever held in a Hackney library. The Voice
  Mystery vandalism returns to Harrow as homes targeted with black and red paint Harrow Online
  Three years after London’s Ulez expanded across the capital, businesses and residents on the border of the scheme have said strong feelings remain, although many have adapted. BBC
  
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• Cloth Cornhill to open in October inside the former Simpsons Tavern

  27-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The restaurant that’s taken over the building that housed the venerable Simpsons Tavern chophouse has confirmed that it will open in October, with bookings accepted from next month.
  Simpsons Tavern (c) ianVisits
  Simpsons Tavern has been open in its narrow alley location since 1757 and was famous for its unfussy food and its determined retention of 19th-century dining, with communal tables shared by diners.
  However, a contentious dispute with the landlord led to Simpsons Tavern closing in N
  
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• Photo exhibition of “animals behaving amusingly” opens next month

  27-08-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A decade of photographs of animals behaving amusingly will go on display in central London next month.
  Andrea Zampatti: The Laughing Dormouse
  The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards Immersive Experience opens at Frameless next to Marble Arch on 12th September, bringing together 91 award-winning photographs from the competition’s first ten years.
  Rather than displaying the photographs conventionally, a 15-minute film will project them at large scale around the walls of the Blank Canvas Gallery, pl
  
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• TfL marks 70 years of Caribbean recruitment and 60 years of Notting Hill Carnival

  27-08-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) is marking two anniversaries this week, celebrating 70 years since London Transport launched a major recruitment drive in the Caribbean and 60 years since the first Notting Hill Carnival.
  LT Recruiter Charles Gomm interviewing an early Barbadian applicant 1956 (c) TfL
  The commemorations will include a new plaque at Westbourne Park tube station honouring people who helped establish and develop the Carnival, a specially decorated London bus joining Sunday’s parade,
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks, Holmsdale Tunnel Open Space, Waltham Cross, EN8

  27-08-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Visiting a park just after umpteen heatwaves have lain waste to the land might seem awkward, but to be honest, this park simply changes colour, and that’s all. A long, wide rectangle of grasslands doesn’t seem that interesting, unless you start to wonder why there aren’t any trees – and the reason is just a metre or so below your feet.This parkland sits on top of the M25 motorway, to dampen the noise of motorcars passing through a fairly residential area. Not by much, to
  
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• Tube-sized tunnel under London gets a power boost – with help from its own monorail

  26-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A 20 year old tube-train sized tunnel under north-west London is getting an upgrade to help it carry more electrons, and the engineers might be able to use a monorail to carry out the work.
  Fata Automation monorail
  The Elstree–St John’s Wood cable tunnel forms a key part of National Grid’s newly launched North West London Upgrade (NWLU), a programme to increase the amount of electricity that can be carried into London and provide connections for new developments.
  As part of the
  
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• Ham House is offering conservation tours through November

  26-08-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Ham House is a grand 17th-century house set in formal gardens beside the River Thames near Richmond in southwest London. The National Trust took over the property in 1948, and after a major restoration completed in 2002, the house is generally open to visitors year-round.
  Ham House
  However, during November, weekday access to the house will be a little different, with general opening replaced by a series of conservation tours.
  The quieter period gives staff and volunteers an opportunity to carry
  
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