| 18-11-09 |
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AFX UK Focus |
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - British cable operator Virgin Media is continually looking to take costs out of the business and expects to reduce its property portfolio as part of that drive, its finance officer said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Tech, Media and Telecom conference which was carried live on the group's website, Eamonn O'Hare said the group was also confident it could maintain its improved performance through signing up new customers and increasing the amount they pay.
Virgin Media reported third-quarter operating cash flow ahead of expectations in October, after adding over 8,000 net new customers and extracting record amounts from its existing base.
Virgin Media, which sells TV, broadband, mobile and fixed telephony, increased the average revenue per user by 5 percent in the third quarter.
"We've increased the price this year ... and we've seen a gravitation by our customers into higher quality products which give a more favourable and richer mix (of customer base)," he said. "That underpins the 5 percent growth."
On cost cuts, O'Hare said the group had taken out a number of jobs and said the business had too many properties which could also be reduced.
"Although we've actually announced quite a significant cost reduction programme, 120 million pounds ($201.8 million) over the next three years, I want to build into the DNA of the business of continually taking out costs and using that to invest."
($1=.5946 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Keywords: TECH CONFERENCE/VIRGINMEDIA
(kate.holton@reuters.com; +44 207 542 8560; Reuters Messaging:kate.holton.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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| 18-11-09 |
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AFX UK Focus |
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Virgin Media Inc:
CFO SAYS LOOKING TO CONTINUALLY TAKE COSTS OUT OF THE BUSINESS
CFO SAYS BROADBAND PRICING ENVIRONMENT NOW MORE BENIGN
CFO SAYS PRICING POWER WILL BE SUSTAINABLE IN FUTURE
CFO SAYS DOESN'T SEE ANY PRESSURE TO OPEN UP THEIR NETWORK
CFO SAYS EXPECTS TO REDUCE NUMBERS OF PROPERTIES TO SAVE COSTS
The Virgin Media CFO was speaking at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference carried live on the group's Web site.
((London Equities Newsroom; +44 20 7542 7717))
(For more news, please click here)
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| 17-11-09 |
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AFX UK Focus |
By Peter Griffiths
LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A British mobile phone operator has admitted staff on its payroll sold the personal details of thousands of customers to rival companies in an alleged major breach of data protection laws, the privacy watchdog said.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said on Tuesday employees at the firm sold the data for "substantial amounts of money" to brokers working for other mobile phone companies.
The watchdog, which would not name any of the companies or individuals under investigation, said it planned to prosecute and would push for jail terms for anyone convicted.
The unnamed operator, described by Graham as one of the major mobile phone companies in Britain, said staff sold details relating to its customers' phone contracts, including their names and addresses and contract expiry dates.
Rival companies bought the information and used it to make cold calls to the customers offering them a new contract with a new network, the Information Commissioner's Office said.
"Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire," Graham said in a statement.
"We are considering the evidence with a view to prosecuting those responsible and I am keen to go much further and close down the entire unlawful industry in personal data."
Spokeswomen for Vodafone, Orange -- part of France Telecom -- and O2, owned by Spain's Telefonica said the allegations did not involve their companies.
A spokesman for 3 UK, owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa , said he was checking the reports. Virgin Media declined to comment and no one was immediately available at T-Mobile UK, part of Deutsche Telekom.
The watchdog has searched several premises after obtaining warrants and is preparing a prosecution file. A spokesman said it would not name the mobile phone company because it is still working on that file. He would say only that the firm is based in Britain.
Many thousands of customers' account details were illegally obtained, the company told the watchdog. Graham said the practice was highly profitable, but illegal under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act.
"The existing paltry fines for Section 55 offences are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity," he said. "The threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent."
(Editing by John Stonestreet) Keywords: BRITAIN DATA/
(peter.griffiths@reuters.com; + 44 207 542 6701; Reuters Messaging: peter.griffiths.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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| 17-11-09 |
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AFX UK Focus |
LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Britain's communications regulator recommended relaxing rules on ownership of local media to help commercial providers of regional news struggling to survive a slump in advertising.
If approved by the government, the new rules recommended by Ofcom would allow radio operators to consolidate around a local area, helping independent commercial operators compete with the state-funded BBC.
They would also liberalise cross-media ownership regulations to the extent that the only banned combination would be to own a local radio station, local newspapers with majority local market share, and a regional channel 3 TV licence all at once.
The changes could benefit radio operators such as Bauer Radio, Global Radio, Guardian Media Group, Virgin Media and UTV Media.
It could also help regional newspaper group Johnston Press as well as national groups such as Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail & General Trust, who own numerous local titles.
Ofcom has also said that new funding is needed to provide regional news on Britain's main commercial TV network because the cost of paying for broadcasting licences will outweigh the benefits by 2012.
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; editing by Simon Jessop) Keywords: BRITAIN MEDIA/CONSOLIDATION
(georgina.prodhan@thomsonreuters.com; +4420 7542 7954; Reuters Messaging georgina.prodhan.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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