Ofcom criticises O2 for going ‘against the spirit’ of new pricing rules

The UK telecoms regulator has criticised O2 for raising prices for millions of mobile phone customers by more than they were originally told.In an unusual intervention, Ofcom said it was “disappointed” by the phone network’s decision, which “goes against the spirit of our rules”.Up to 15 million O2 customers will see their monthly bills rise by more than they were told when they signed up to their contracts, after the company announced an additional 70p per month increase to its annual price rises from April 2026.The originally stated £1.80 monthly rise will now be almost 40% higher at £2

FTSE 100 winning streak ends as WPP shares hit lowest level since 1998; ECB holds rates at 2% - as it happened

Time to recap.Shares in advertising group WPP fell to their lowest level since 1998, after the FTSE 100 group slashed its revenue guidance for the year and its new chief executive Cindy Rose said its recent performance has been “unacceptable”.The former Microsoft executive has announced a review of the business, saying she was taking action to address the “unacceptable” performance at the company, which has struggled to stem a growing exodus of clients and compete with the AI and data capabilities of its rivals.Over in Frankfurt, the European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold on Thursday for the third meeting in a row despite concerns that a modest economic recovery across the eurozone would fuel inflation.The ECB kept its key deposit rate at 2% despite annual price growth rising to 2

Apple reports record iPhone sales as new lineup reignites worldwide demand

Apple reported its first quarterly earnings since the release of its new lineup of iPhones on Thursday, beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The company showed steady financial growth and a strong bottom line despite slow progress on artificial intelligence. The report comes just days after the company hit a $4tn market value for the first time.“Today, Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record of $102.5 billion, including a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record for Services,” Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, said in a statement

Amazon reports strongest cloud growth since 2022 after major outage

Amazon has made its first financial disclosures since the disastrous outage suffered by its cloud computing division that brought everything from smart beds to banks offline.In spite of the global outage, Amazon Web Services has continued to grow, and this quarter reported a 20% increase in revenue year over year. Wall Street estimated that AWS would bring in $32.42bn in net sales in the third quarter, with the company reporting actual revenue of $33bn.“AWS is growing at a pace we haven’t seen since 2022,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement accompanying the earnings report

Borthwick hopes England can emulate Bazball mentality for autumn series

England’s rugby players are seeking to emulate the Bazball ethos of their cricketing counterparts and strike a pre-emptive blow for the nation in the run-up to the forthcoming Ashes series. Steve Borthwick and members of his coaching staff have had discussions with Brendon McCullum and want their team to make a fast and furious start against Australia in the Quilter Nations Series on Saturday.There is a collective desire within the England camp to make a statement over the coming month and Borthwick and his defence coach, Richard Wigglesworth, have been picking McCullum’s brain on the best ways to encourage a positive mindset. “We met Brendon McCullum and his coaching staff a few weeks ago,” said Wigglesworth. “We had a sit down and a coffee in Manchester which was very enjoyable

Enhanced Games are dangerous and must be stopped, says Wada head

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has called on the body’s American counterparts to act to stop the Enhanced Games, describing the new event – which allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in competition – as “dangerous” and “irresponsible”.Witold Banka said the world’s anti-doping regimes had to be “very united” in their opposition to the Enhanced Games and said the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) had a responsibility to push against it. Banka went on to criticise the anti-doping regime in the US, at a time when the government there has withheld crucial funding from Wada’s operations.“Sometimes we don’t know what to say about this ridiculous idea, because from the ethical point of view, from the moral point of view, how is it possible that people come to agree to compete, taking all these prohibited substances?” Banka said. “It’s completely against everything that we are doing