The market, the monopoly and Mercury
Article Abstract:
Mercury Communications was created in 1982 in order to provide an alternative to the monopoly enjoyed by British Telecom (BT). BT had proved inefficient and it was hoped that a competitor would provide quality service and hasten the reform of BT. Office of Telecommunications Director General Sir Bryan Carsberg is currently undertaking a review of the duopoly to analyze the progress made in modernizing the UK telecommunications system, whether that progress is attributable to privatization, and whether more progress can be stimulated by the introduction of more competitors. Mercury is profitable and has provided an impetus for BT becoming more efficient in order to remain competitive. Mercury had pre-tax profits of 66 million pounds sterling on a turnover of 492 million pounds, processes three million calls a day, and enjoys a 12% share of all international calls and half of international digital private lines.
Publication Name: Accountancy
Subject: Business
ISSN: 0001-4664
Year: 1990
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Learning from other people's mistakes
Article Abstract:
When Eddie Shah was running the now-defunct Today (Britain's first 'new technology' daily), Chris Barton as financial director for Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers kept a close eye on his firm's 500,000 pound sterling investment in the innovative newspaper. Now that Today has failed, Barton has been hired as the finance director of The Independent (a newspaper much like Today, published by Newspaper Publishing PLC). Using the Today experience as guidelines of how not to run a paper, The Independent will employ more Fleet Street writers than Today and emphasize quality and accuracy in its reporting. The Independent is also financed by major institutions (rather than individuals) and no single institution is a dominant shareholder. The Independent was launched on October 7, 1986 with an initial run of 630,000 papers.
Publication Name: Accountancy
Subject: Business
ISSN: 0001-4664
Year: 1986
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Financial control in British Telecom
Article Abstract:
The accounting and management principles used to govern British Telecom changed when the firm became a private industry (after years of operating as an arm of the British Post Office). British Telecom is currently run as a group of nearly autonomous regional and functional divisions, including: local communication services (of which there are 30), the national networks division (responsible for long-distance services), BT International (the division that provides maritime and off-shore services), BT Enterprises (the equipment supplier), BT Overseas (the consulting branch of the company), and the centralized research and procurement operations. Planning, control and decision-making processes at British Telecom are described.
Publication Name: Accountancy
Subject: Business
ISSN: 0001-4664
Year: 1986
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