Category Archives: Technology sector

Broadband customers face up to 14% hike in bills, warns Which?

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BT customers face £113 rise as providers such as EE and TalkTalk prepare controversial ‘inflation-plus’ mechanism

Broadband bills could surge by as much as £113 next year if a number of the UK’s biggest telecoms firms push ahead with inflation-busting price increases next spring, says consumer watchdog Which?

Many of the country’s main internet providers – including the largest player BT, along with TalkTalk, EE, Plusnet and Vodafone – use a mechanism to increase the cost of bills annually by the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI) in January, plus 3.9%.

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UK drivers for Bolt ride-hailing app pursue worker benefits claim

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Lawyers acting for more than 1,600 drivers say they have been wrongly classed as self-employed

More than 1,600 UK drivers working for the ride-hailing app Bolt are seeking compensation for missed holiday and minimum wage payments as they argue they have been wrongly classed as self-employed contractors.

Lawyers for the drivers have written to the government-backed workplace conciliation service Acas, in the first stage of lodging the claim against Bolt.

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US bans ‘advanced tech’ firms from building facilities in China for a decade

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Move comes as Biden administration outlines plans to boost domestic production of semiconductors

US technology firms that receive government funding will be banned from building “advanced technology facilities” in China for a decade, the Biden administration has announced, as it outlined plans to increase domestic production of semiconductors.

The requirements come under the US government’s near-$53bn (£46bn) plan to scale up manufacturing of semiconductor chips – the “brain” in every electronic device from cars to household appliances – which are predominantly produced in Asia.

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UK e-commerce firm THG ends investment deal with Japan’s SoftBank

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Company, which owns sites such as Lookfantastic and Zavvi, blames ‘global macroeconomic conditions’

The online shopping group THG has ended an agreement under which the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank had agreed to invest in it, blaming “global macroeconomic conditions”.

The company formerly known as The Hut Group, which owns a range of internet health and beauty retailers, secured $730m (£610m) of new investment from a division of SoftBank to help fund expansion of its technology platform a few months before it listed in London.

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Tech company earnings reports expected to bring a flush of bad news

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Some US firms have announced hiring slowdowns and layoffs in recent weeks amid fears of recession

As top tech companies prepare to release their quarterly earnings reports starting next week, investors are bracing for bad news.

Several US tech companies have announced hiring slowdowns and layoffs in recent weeks, and the difficulties are expected to continue. “It’s not a great time for tech in general,” said Paul Verna, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, a market analysis firm. “There is no question that companies are going to be spending less, cutting back budgets, and maybe implementing hiring freezes. None of that is good news for the next quarter.”

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The Uber files: how the leak prompted outrage across the world

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From Europe to India and the US, the revelations have fuelled anger from across the spectrum, from the drivers to politicians

The release of the Uber files has prompted a frenzy of reaction around the world, piling pressure on senior politicians, fuelling calls for a crackdown on corporate lobbying and drawing outrage from groups including traditional taxi drivers.

The fuse was lit with the publication of revelations from a trove of more than 124,000 documents about Uber spanning from 2013 to 2017, leaked to the Guardian and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and international media.

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The Moscow moves: how Mandelson’s firm helped Uber reach Russian elite

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Leak shows how the former Labour minister used his access to pro-Kremlin oligarchs, including some now under sanctions

Even before Uber’s top executives arrived in Davos in January 2016, its bosses were trying to secure invitations to the exclusive party hosted by the billionaire Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska. Famous for its free-flowing vodka, the event was an invitation-only, after-hours fixture of the world economic forum, the annual gathering of corporate leaders and politicians in the Swiss Alps.

Fortunately for Uber, it had hired someone who could pull strings. “Put them on list at door,” ordered Peter Mandelson, according to messages in the Uber files data leak.

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The Uber files: the unicorn (part 1)

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A leak of internal documents from inside Uber reveals evidence that the company broke laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied prime ministers and presidents in an effort to break into markets long held by taxi companies

Back when Uber was starting up, barely more than a concept and attempting to break into new cities, it had a playbook. First it would attract drivers to switch to its service from the competition. Then it would encourage customers to try it out by subsidising fares. And then, when it had gained a foothold, it would heap pressure on local regulators to grant them approval to continue operating.

As Johana Bhuiyan tells Michael Safi, the Uber model was spectacularly successful. The company grew from its San Francisco beginnings to be a truly global company in a matter of years. But as it grew, it attracted controversy, and the scandals started to mount up.

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EU moves to rein in ‘wild west’ of crypto assets with new rules

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MiCA law contains measures to guard against market abuse and manipulation

The EU has moved to rein in the “wild west” of crypto assets by agreeing a groundbreaking set of rules for the sector.

Representatives from the European parliament and EU states thrashed out an agreement on Thursday that contains measures to guard against market abuse and manipulation, as well as requiring that crypto firms provide details of the environmental impact of their assets.

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Owner of UK chip designer Arm may float some of firm’s shares in London

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Japan’s SoftBank still likely to conduct IPO in New York but could secure secondary listing

The Japanese owner of the British chip designer Arm is reportedly planning to float some of the company’s shares in London, in a sign the government’s efforts to lobby for a UK listing of the Cambridge-based company may have succeeded.

SoftBank, which bought the chip company for $32bn in 2016, is said to be reconsidering earlier plans to only list shares on the US market.

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Elon Musk to hold first meeting with Twitter staff since $44bn bid

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World’s richest person to take questions from employees amid concerns over attempted takeover

Elon Musk will speak to Twitter employees this week for the first time since launching his $44bn (£36bn) bid in April, a source said on Monday, citing an email from Twitter chief executive, Parag Agrawal, to staff.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, and Musk will take questions directly from Twitter employees, the source added.

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Chinese technology shares jump as Alibaba sales exceed forecasts

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E-commerce company’s revenues rise 9% to 204bn yuan despite weakening economy

Chinese technology shares jumped after strong results from internet companies, including better-than-expected sales at the e-commerce firm Alibaba despite an economic slowdown driven by Beijing’s Covid-19 lockdowns.

The Hangzhou-based company beat analysts’ forecasts with its sales and profit figures for the first quarter despite a weakening economy, and it did better than local rivals such as Tencent. Revenues rose 9% to 204bn yuan (£24bn) in the first three months of the year.

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Meta asks to be spared tighter rules in Australia, saying iPhone’s tracking blocker is hurting business

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Company tells consumer watchdog it is set to lose $10bn this year in wake of Apple iOS feature hampering ability to collect user data

Meta says Apple’s decision to allow users to stop apps tracking them on their phones has diminished Facebook’s advertising market power, and therefore the social media giant should not face further regulation in Australia.

In mid-2021 Apple rolled out a new feature in iOS 14.5 called “app tracking transparency” which asks for users’ consent before an app can track their activity across websites and apps, and allows users to opt out of the tracking at any time.

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Amazon bags £425m in work from UK government as it is criticised over tax

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Report claims public money from countries around the world is funding growth of tech company

Amazon has reaped a total of £425m in UK government contracts in the past two years, it has emerged in a report, prompting fresh criticism that the tech giant is failing to pay a fair share of tax in the country.

The report, by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) with assistance from investigative thinktank Taxwatch, finds Amazon’s highly profitable cloud computing business is increasingly being indirectly supported by taxpayers through hundreds of billions of dollars in government contracts around the world.

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Saudi Aramco overtakes Apple as world’s most valuable company

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Soaring commodity prices swell oil giant’s profits as tech stock slide pegs back iPhone maker

Apple has lost its crown as the world’s most valuable company to the oil giant Saudi Aramco, as soaring commodity prices swell profits at energy companies and technology stocks continue to slide.

In a sign that the old economy is reasserting itself over the new this year, Aramco eclipsed Apple on Wednesday night amid the ongoing rout on Wall Street.

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Chinese taxi app Didi shelves plans for major overseas expansion

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Exclusive: Prominent tech company cuts half its UK employees amid signs of pressure from Beijing government

Chinese taxi app Didi has told staff it has put plans for major international expansions on hold until at least 2025 and cut half its UK employees amid pressure from Beijing on one of its most prominent tech companies.

Didi Chuxing has been on the back foot since last summer when the Cyberspace Administration of China, a powerful regulator, banned the country’s dominant ride-hailing company from listing its app on mobile app stores in the country.

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UK cybersecurity unit tackles record number of online scams in 2021

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More than 2.7m attempted frauds interrupted, including fake celebrity endorsements and extortion emails

Britain’s cybersecurity unit has reported a record crackdown on internet scams after tackling more than 2.7m attempted frauds last year, a near-fourfold increase on the figure for 2020.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), an arm of the GCHQ spy agency, said the interrupted scams included fake celebrity endorsements and bogus extortion emails. It stressed, however, that the increase in detection reflected aggressive targeting by the unit rather than an increase in scams.

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Elon Musk sells $8.5bn-worth of Tesla shares after Twitter deal

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Carmaker’s shares fell this week over concerns CEO would offload stock to help fund takeover of platform

Elon Musk has sold $8.5bn (£6.8bn) worth of shares in Tesla as the world’s richest man raises cash after reaching a deal to buy Twitter.

The Tesla chief executive has committed $21bn of his own money to the funding package for acquiring the social media platform, which he agreed to buy for $44bn on Monday. Since then Musk has sold 9.6m Tesla shares, or about 5.6% of his stake in the business, according to filings with the US financial regulator.

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Twitter takeover: EU and UK warn Elon Musk must comply or face sanctions

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EU commissioner raises hate speech concerns as UK draws attention to penalties in online safety bill

The UK and EU have warned that Twitter must comply with new content rules or face sanctions that range from fines to a total ban, as concerns were raised that hate speech will increase on the platform under the ownership of Elon Musk.

The world’s richest man has agreed a $44bn (£34bn) deal to buy the social media network, which will hand control of a platform with 217 million users to a self-confessed “free speech absolutist”.

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Could Elon Musk’s Twitter plans prove a costly mistake?

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Analysis: Experts warn against reinstating banned accounts and neglecting moderation

Welcome back Donald Trump, Katie Hopkins, David Icke and Alex Jones? These are just some of the Twitter accounts that could be reinstated if the platform’s new owner-in-waiting, “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk, practices what he preaches.

All of those accounts have been permanently suspended from the platform for infractions that include, most notoriously, the former US president’s alleged support for the Capitol riot on 6 January last year. Their reinstatement now appears to be back in play given that the world’s richest man has agreed a $44bn (£35bn) takeover of the platform that banned them and has stated that “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy”.

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