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A tie-up between the companies would normally trigger a competition review because BT’s broadband network Openreach is TalkTalk’s largest supplier. BT is also the country’s largest broadband provider with a market share of roughly 30 per cent, according to estimates from Enders Analysis.
The TV star saw far ahead of others the dangers and risks posed to children by technology such as smartphones and the internet, according to friend and media executive Claire Enders. “She had a brilliant insight into the prevalence of abuse in an online world,” said Enders, who pointed to the introduction of the Online Safety Act in 2023 as a culmination of her campaigns over the decades. “She was able to galvanise people to act. She used her voice with utter conviction and effectiveness.”
We may see the deal called off before the official CMA decision on Dec. 15, unless Nexfibre and Netomnia still believe that there is a sufficient chink of hope that is worth holding on,” Karen Egan said. “The CMA is taking the view that VMO2 will upgrade its network from cable to fiber whether this deal happens or not.”
The CMA has provisionally blocked the VMO2/nexfibre-Netomnia transaction, primarily because of the network overlap, and it is hard to see a path to approval from here.
CityFibre is back in the driving seat to consolidate the altnets, with the pressure now on the retail altnets to secure deals earlier rather than later.
There are substantial silver linings for VMO2/nexfibre in the deal being refused, it is positive for Sky/VodafoneThree/TalkTalk in our view, and more neutral for BT/Openreach given the pluses and minuses.
Karen Egan was quoted in the FT on "BT seeks government nod for potential TalkTalk takeover"
Karen Egan said that “when companies get to the level of distress that TalkTalk appears to be in, competition concerns tend to take a back seat.”
“In this instance, the government will be more concerned about security and continuity of service for vulnerable customers,” she added.
Meta Connect showcased the company’s determination and ambition to compete simultaneously across multiple fiercely contested technology spaces, with Apple’s wearable products and services a primary target.
In attempting to both capture developer mindshare and change consumer perceptions of AI and wearables, Meta buried new and interesting AI developer frameworks and agentic experiences behind cartoon AI agents and a Tamagotchi-like device.
Smart glasses category expansion, and a radical VR glasses reveal, were tightly bound to AI as the missing component to assist app and service development, driving improved experiences for consumers. Meta’s hardware strategy remains US-centric with very slow international rollout for flagship devices.
Karen Egan, head of telecoms at consultancy Enders Analysis, told the BBC that TalkTalk, which had 4million customers in 2019, has become laden with debt and ‘struggled to invest’ in keeping them.
‘At the same time, the industry’s become incredibly competitive – a lot of excess market entry – and prices have collapsed,' she said.
Ms Egan said about £1billion of debt was likely to have to be written off as part of the sale process, which would be a ‘very large number for the banks to swallow’.
She added: ‘I’d be surprised if there’s actually real disruption for the TalkTalk customers. If indeed this deal with Opus Broadband goes ahead they will take over the running of the operations I would expect.’
The government is considering an update to the definition of public service media, to ensure its provision across a converging, over-populated online media ecosystem.
This opens up difficult questions about how we should define and incentivise quality content, and content that serves the public good—as well as defining success in carrying out public service obligations.
These definitional challenges bleed into the practical challenge of designing a prominence system for online platforms. There must be realism about the commercial upside to such a system for PSBs, and any potential to disadvantage other types of content creators.
