UPC Ireland — the multi-disciplined communications company, formerly trading under the Chorus/NTL brands — has reported a 10% increase in total subscriber numbers for 2010.

Eircom has today announced that Chris Hutchings has been appointed managing director wholesale, effective from February 1, 2011.

IF A CERTAIN beer manufacturer did TV channels, they’d probably come up with something like Sky Atlantic.

ENHANCED broadband is the battleground which newly rebranded TV, broadband and phone service provider UPC has drawn up for its main rivals.

UPC has scrapped the Chorus and NTL brands as it unveils plans to offer customers 100 megabits per second broadband –the fastest speed available in Ireland.

Broadcasting giant BSkyB has suffered a near-£350m (€397.64m) hit after selling a 10.4% stake in ITV and admitting defeat in a long-running legal battle.

Communications group UPC Ireland, owners of Chorus and NTL, today reported a 1.6% rise in profits for the third quarter of 2009, with revenues of €61.6m up from €60.6m in Q3 2008.

Broadcaster BSkyB reported a 4% rise in annual earnings today as it said new customers were joining the firm at the fastest rate for five years.

THE prospective new owners of the Irish operations of sports broadcaster Setanta are understood to be in a race against time to put in place the necessary funding to buy the business, before the Irish transmission rights for English Premier League football are put out to tender in the coming weeks.

LIBERTY Global, the US company which owns the Chorus/NTL cable and digital television companies, through its UPC subsidiary, has indicated an interest in buying the Irish division of Setanta Sports.

The vast majority of illegal websites reported to an Irish internet watchdog last year no longer exist or had the criminal content wiped, it emerged today.

PUBLICANS are paying up to €20,000 every year for their sports TV coverage, despite more and more people choosing to drink at home.

Cable group Virgin Media said today that it was axing around 2,200 UK jobs by 2012 under a sweeping restructure.

UPC Ireland — which operates the NTL and Chorus cable/digital television platforms here — recorded a 20% year-on-year increase in third-quarter revenues this year to €91.1 million.

Broadcasting giant BSkyB today lost its appeal against the UK government’s decision to force it to reduce its controversial 17.9% stake in ITV.

THREE rival bidders have outlined how they will offer digital TV services here as an alternative to existing cable and satellite providers.

Shares in ITV raced ahead today as reports suggested German broadcaster RTL was interested in snapping up BSkyB’s controversial stake in the group.

GARDAÍ have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following an investigation into an alleged black market supply of TV services.

The British government today ruled that broadcasting giant BSkyB must offload some of its controversial 17.9% stake in ITV.

RECENT arrivals to the previously monopolised telephone market believe rising fault rates reported by Eircom this week are worse than the figures made public.

SITESERV has moved to reduce its exposure to the residential building market with the 52 million takeover of utilities services provider Sierra Communications.

UPC IRELAND, which owns the NTL and Chorus digital television and broadband brands, generated revenues of $74.7 million (€54.4m) in the second quarter of the year, up from $64.8m for the same period last year.

Virgin Media today revealed the impact of its row with BSkyB after cable and broadband customer numbers fell by 70,000 in the quarter to June 30.

‘COMPETITION’ was the buzzword bouncing off the polished wood floors and shiny chrome fittings of central London’s Century Club yesterday.

SETANTA SPORTS has signed a deal worth an undisclosed sum with Virgin Media in Britain that will see it included in the Virgin network’s basic TV package.

Cable company Virgin Media today confirmed it had received a takeover offer for the business.

Bid speculation involving Virgin Media returned this weekend after it was reported the cable company could be about to get an $8 billion (€5.9bn) approach from a private equity firm.

A US private equity group is believed to be mulling over a $15bn (€21.9bn) takeover approach for cable company Virgin Media, according to reports today.

Virgin Media today revealed the cost of its spat with rival BSkyB in the UK as it reported a loss of 46,900 customers in the first three months of the year.

Broadcasting group BSkyB turned up the pressure on rival Virgin Media today by unveiling much better than expected customer numbers.

Cable company NTL has ditched plans to introduce a €2 surcharge for handling accounts which are not paid by direct debit.

UPC, the parent company of NTL and Chorus has announced a €300m investment plan for the television and telecommunications providers.

Virgin Media said it believes customers back its battle with Sky but it will not stop them switching to another TV provider if they are unhappy about losing several popular channels.

Hundreds of thousands of cable television customers may be waking up to blank screens on some of their favourite channels today after the deadline passed in a row between Sky and Virgin Media.

The British government today ordered media watchdog Ofcom to investigate the public interest issues arising from BSkyB’s controversial move to buy a 17.9% stake in ITV last year.

BSkyB today looked set to pull its major channels from the Virgin Media cable network at the end of this month after talks collapsed between the two rivals, leaving relations between the groups at an all-time low.

The TD for Dublin North East is encouraging NTL customers not to pay their bills because of a charge the company is levying on those who do not pay by direct debit.

Virgin boss Richard Branson will unveil Virgin Media today, throwing down the gauntlet to rival broadcasting giant BSkyB for top spot in the UK’s entertainment and telecoms industry.

BT said today it would make its 10 millionth broadband connection this week, twice the number it had envisaged five years ago.

A show about Jordan has topped a list of the most-watched documentaries of 2006.

NTL's Waterford call centre is to close its doors for the final time today, with the loss of 135 jobs.

The FTSE 100 Index edged towards 6100 today as traders were left unmoved by Gordon Brown’s tenth Pre-Budget Report.

Hopes of higher than expected annual profits at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) boosted banking stocks today.