157-536: Wembley Stadium (sometimes referred to as The New Wembley and branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is an association football stadium in Wembley , London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium , which had stood from 1923 until 2003. The stadium is England's national football stadium , and thus hosts the majority of the England national team home matches and
314-481: A 50:50 joint venture between Everything Everywhere and Three UK, with Orange contributing several thousand of its base stations for network sharing purposes. MBNL was created after T-Mobile and Three UK agreed to pool their respective 3G infrastructures in a 50:50 joint venture. By September 2010 MBNL's HSPA-based infrastructure covered more than 90% of the British population, and was expected to rise to more than 98% by
471-709: A 60% drop in share price in sixteen months. Philip Hampton joined as CFO, and in April 2001 Sir Iain Vallance was replaced as chairman by recognised turn around expert Sir Christopher Bland . In May 2001, BT carried out corporate Europe's largest ever rights issue , allowing it to raise £5.9 billion. A few days before, it sold stakes in Japan Telecom , in mobile operator J-Phone Communications, and in Airtel of India to Vodafone . In June 2001, BT's directory business
628-415: A capacity of 90,000, protected from the elements by a sliding roof that does not completely enclose it. The stadium's signature feature is a circular section lattice arch of 7 m (23 ft) internal diameter with a 315 m (1,033 ft) span, erected some 22° off true, and rising to 133 m (436 ft). It supports all the weight of the north roof and 60% of the weight of the retractable roof on
785-606: A carpet lay and play system. Wembley has been used for American football matches in the National Football League 's International Series . Tottenham Hotspur hosted Manchester City in a Premier League match on 29 October 2018, a day after Wembley hosted the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars . Due to the short turnaround, faded gridiron markings and the NFL logo were clearly visible on
942-519: A cost of £798 million (£1.51 billion today). Two partially retractable roof structures over the east and west ends of the stadium can be opened to allow sunlight and aid pitch growth. In addition to England home games and the FA Cup final, the stadium also hosts other major games in English football, including the season-opening FA Community Shield , the finals of lower tiered cup competition –
1099-502: A counter-claim for unpaid fees of £250,000. The dispute between Multiplex and Mott MacDonald was settled out of court in June 2010, ahead of a January 2011 trial. The terms of the settlement not disclosed, but it was reported that Multiplex "would not be out of pocket". Multiplex also took the original steel contractor, Cleveland Bridge, to court claiming £38 million compensation for costs resulting from Cleveland Bridge withdrawing from
1256-427: A crowd of 87,192, a record for either the men's or women's European Championship. The stadium will also host matches during UEFA Euro 2028 . The Rugby league Challenge Cup Final had been played annually at the old Wembley Stadium since 1929. In 2007, the cup final returned to its traditional home after the rebuilding of Wembley. When Catalans Dragons played St. Helens in the 2007 Challenge Cup final , they became
1413-509: A day, for a fully charged charger, at two locations around the festival. In early 2013, Ipsos MORI signed an agreement with EE, wherein Ipsos MORI would commercialise the data on the company's 23 million subscribers, for example "how many of the phone users checked their Facebook accounts, or the website of their favourite shop". Later that year, The Sunday Times revealed that Ipsos MORI had negotiated an agreement to sell this data to
1570-552: A debt of £30 billion, much of which was acquired during the bidding round for the 3rd generation mobile telephony (commonly known as 3G) licences. It had also failed in its series of proposed global mergers, and the funds flowing from its then virtual monopoly of the UK market place had been largely removed. It was also headed by two executives who had little support from the London Stock Exchange , particularly in light of
1727-474: A full-scale match was David Bentley with a free kick in the same game. The first club game, competitive game, and cup final held at the new Wembley took place on 12 May 2007 when Kidderminster Harriers met Stevenage Borough in the FA Trophy final . Kidderminster striker James Constable was the first player to score a goal in a final at the new Wembley. Kidderminster became the first team to play at both
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#17327725658301884-588: A further 550 back office staff, with its sites in Bristol , Darlington , Hatfield , and Paddington affected. In April 2012, the T-Mobile network in Northern Ireland was switched off, meaning that customers there roamed onto Orange. Later, most T-Mobile sites were turned back on as EE has a mast sharing agreement with 3 . Everything Everywhere announced on 22 August 2012 that it would introduce
2041-608: A game between England and the team he managed, Croatia , in November 2007. The pitch was cut up during the game, which was blamed by some as the reason England did not qualify for UEFA Euro 2008 . The Football Association admitted in April 2009, after the FA Cup semi-finals , that improvements were needed to the Wembley pitch, after criticism of the surface by coaches Alex Ferguson , Arsène Wenger and David Moyes . In March 2010,
2198-475: A goal by Didier Drogba , making him the first player to score in the FA Cup Final at the new Wembley – the first male player to score in four separate FA Cup Finals. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech also became the first goalkeeper not to concede a goal in a competitive game at Wembley. Chelsea were the last winners of the cup final at the old Wembley and the first winners at the new. The first game involving
2355-663: A government department, took over the system of the National Telephone Company becoming the monopoly telecoms supplier in the United Kingdom. The Post Office Act of 1969 led to the GPO becoming a public corporation, Post Office Telecommunications . The British Telecom brand was introduced in 1980, and became independent of the Post Office in 1981, officially trading under the name. British Telecom
2512-436: A headbutt on Craig Stanley of Morecambe. The first Football League teams to play at Wembley in a competitive fixture were Bristol Rovers and Shrewsbury Town in the 2007 Football League Two play-off final on 26 May 2007. Shrewsbury Town became the first league team to score at Wembley via a Stewart Drummond goal, they also the first league team to have a player sent off, in this case – Marc Tierney Bristol Rovers won
2669-444: A member of EE's board. Alexander said that he would remain with the company throughout the remainder of 2011 and continue to advise Swantee in his new role. Swantee is seen as having done an exceptional job in leading the group through the challenges of rebranding and the launch of a new technology, and was named the mobile industry's person of the year in 2013 as a result. In November 2011, Everything Everywhere announced plans to cut
2826-415: A member of staff; something which should be standard. Later that month, EE was accused of trying to silence complaining customers on social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter . Customers claimed that the company deleted their complaints on the company's Facebook page. The company discourages customers from posting their grievances in public, preferring private messages. In May 2015, EE became
2983-537: A monopoly over communications. With the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 the GPO began to provide telephone services from some of its telegraph exchanges. It was confirmed in 1880 that the 1869 Act included telephony even though the telephone had not been invented when the Act was first conceived. In 1882, the Postmaster-General , Henry Fawcett started to issue licences to operate
3140-513: A new unified BT Consumer division that will operate across three brands – BT, EE, and Plusnet . This took effect on 1 April 2018. EE has main offices in London, Bristol , Darlington , Doxford , Greenock , Merthyr Tydfil , North Tyneside , Plymouth and Leeds . In June 2016, it was announced that EE was making preparations to move from its offices in Paddington to BT Centre at
3297-486: A package of broadcast rights for the Premier League from the 2013–14 to 2015–16 season, broadcasting 38 matches from each season. In February 2013, BT acquired ESPN Inc. 's UK and Ireland TV channels, continuing its expansion into sports broadcasting. ESPN America and ESPN Classic were both closed, while ESPN continued to be operated by BT. On 9 November 2013, BT announced it had acquired exclusive rights to
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#17327725658303454-589: A range of services, each organisation would be able to focus on their respective service, with dedicated management. By law, the Post Office retained the exclusive right to operate the UK national telecom network, (although since 1914 had licensed Hull City Council to operate its own local telephone network, Kingston Communications ). The 1970s was a period of great expansion for the Post Office. Most exchanges were modernised and expanded, and many services, such as STD and international dialling were extended. By
3611-481: A service (SaaS) applications. In the early days of its fibre broadband rollout, BT said it would deliver fibre-to-the-premises ( FTTP ) to around 25% of the Country, with the rest catered for by the slower fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), which uses copper wiring to deliver the final stretch of the connection. In 2014, with less than 0.7% of the company's fibre network being FTTP, BT dropped the 25% target, saying that it
3768-435: A span of 315 m (1,033 ft), the arch is the longest single-span roof structure in the world. The Australian firm Multiplex, which was the main contractor on Wembley Stadium, made significant losses on the project. In an attempt to recoup some of those losses, the firm initiated a number of legal cases against its sub-contractors and consultants. The largest of these – the largest construction claim in UK legal history –
3925-520: A telephone service to private businesses and the telephone system grew under the GPO in some areas and private ownership in others. The GPO's main competitor, the National Telephone Company (NTC), emerged in this market by absorbing other private telephone companies. It controlled most of telephony in Britain before the 1880 ruling on the Telegraph Act 1869 mandated a nationalised service – which
4082-422: A third brand as part of a future 4G launch to sit alongside T-Mobile and Orange, and that Everything Everywhere would continue as the company's legal name. Further speculation commenced on 7 September 2012 when the company announced details of a press conference on the morning of 11 September 2012, the earliest date set by Ofcom to launch 4G services. It was also noted that this date was only 24 hours earlier than
4239-454: Is 115 yd (105 m) long by 75 yd (69 m) wide, slightly narrower than the old Wembley, as required by the UEFA stadium categories for a category four stadium, the top category. In a period after the completion of the new Wembley, the pitch came into disrepute. It was described as being "no good" and "not in the condition that Wembley used to be known for" by Slaven Bilić before
4396-691: Is also the only UK network to support the full connected capability of the Apple Watch Series 3 . The Co-operative Mobile operate on the EE network under a MVNO agreement , which was most recently renegotiated in December 2010 for Virgin, and November 2013 for Asda (which had previously operated on the Vodafone network, however the agreement ended in March 2021 where ASDA Mobile returned to using
4553-516: Is converting – or 'refarming' 10 MHz of the 2G airwaves and adding that to the existing 20 MHz slice that's already configured for 4G. More than 600 sites across cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, will be upgraded with the latest 4G spectrum over the next six months, equipped with 'Cat 12' and 'Cat 16' modems which will provide better speeds and coverage and support next generation 'CAT 12' and 'CAT 16' smartphones. The data upload speeds will also be doubled from
4710-532: Is estimated to be over £10 million. In 2007, Multiplex also contested a claim from its concrete contractor, PC Harrington, that Multiplex owes £13.4 million to PC Harrington. In April 2018, Shahid Khan , the owner of Fulham F.C. and the Jacksonville Jaguars , put forward an offer to purchase Wembley Stadium from the FA. The deal included not only the purchase of the stadium, but also providing
4867-511: Is held at Wembley since 2007, and the FA Women's Cup final since 2015. The new Wembley was a significant part of the plan for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; the stadium was the site of several games in both the men's and women's football tournaments, with the finals being held there. The FA offices at Wembley Stadium, with social areas and boardroom, were designed by architects Gebler Tooth – who were also responsible for Team GB House at
Wembley Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue
5024-420: Is movable. The primary reason for the sliding roof was to avoid shading the pitch, as grass demands direct sunlight to grow effectively. The sliding roof design minimises the shadow by having the roof pulled back on the east, west and south. Angus Campbell, the chief architect, also said that an aim was for the pitch to be in sunlight during matches played between 3 pm and 5 pm from the beginning of May to
5181-410: Is one of the most expensive stadia ever built at a cost of £798 million in 2007, and has the largest roof-covered seating capacity in the world. Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners was appointed to assist Wembley National Stadium Limited in preparing the scheme for a new stadium and to obtain planning and listed building permission for the development. The all-seater stadium is a bowl design with
5338-483: Is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe , behind Barcelona's Camp Nou . Designed by Populous and Foster and Partners , the stadium is crowned by the 134-metre-high (440 ft) Wembley Arch which serves aesthetically as a landmark across London as well as structurally, with the arch supporting over 75% of the entire roof load. The stadium was built by Australian firm Multiplex at
5495-556: Is the largest provider of fixed-line , broadband and mobile services in the UK, and also provides subscription television and IT services . BT's origins date back to the founding in 1846 of the Electric Telegraph Company , the world's first public telegraph company, which developed a nationwide communications network. BT Group as it came to be started in 1912, when the General Post Office ,
5652-635: The 2011 , 2013 and the 2024 Champions League Finals, eight games at UEFA Euro 2020 (including the final and both of the semi-finals), and hosted the final of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 . The stadium hosted the gold-medal matches at the 2012 Olympic Games football tournament . The stadium also hosts the Rugby Football League 's Challenge Cup , Women's Challenge Cup , and 1895 Cup finals, in addition to various music concerts. The stadium also hosted NFL London Games until 2019 and
5809-528: The 2013 UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund , and in September 2019 it was named the host for the 2023 UEFA Champions League final . Due to adjustments of the 2020 final caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe , it staged the following season's final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid instead. During the 2012 Olympics , Great Britain defeated Brazil in
5966-603: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards in 2013, replacing its Orange brand. A six-year agreement to sponsor Wembley Stadium was agreed with The Football Association in February 2014, although was not classed as a naming rights agreement. EE had a presence at the Glastonbury Festival 2015, providing reusable chargers for mobile phone users. The "Power Bars" could be exchanged once
6123-519: The Champions League and Europa League for £897m, from the 2015 season, with some free games remaining including both finals. On 1 November 2014, BT created a new central business services organisation to provide customer services and improve operational efficiency. On 24 November 2014, shares in BT rose considerably on the announcement that the company was in talks to buy back O2 , while at
6280-577: The Competition and Markets Authority on 15 January 2016. The deal was completed on 29 January 2016 with Deutsche Telekom now owning 12% of BT, while Orange owns 4%. On 1 February 2016, BT announced that EE will become a new consumer division within the wider group, alongside BT Consumer . It will serve customers with mobile services, broadband and TV, and also continue to deliver the Emergency Services Network contract which
6437-456: The Cup Final will be there, barring six feet of snow or something like that". By November 2005, WNSL were still hopeful of a handover date of 31 March, in time for the cup final on 13 May. However, in December 2005, the builders admitted that there was a "material risk" that the stadium might not be ready in time for the final. In February 2006 these worries were confirmed, with the FA moving
Wembley Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue
6594-692: The Electricity Supply Board , the Irish state owned power provider. This venture, entitled Ocean, found its main success through the launch of Ireland's first subscription-free dial-up ISP, oceanfree.net. As a telecoms company it found much less success, mainly targeting corporate customers. BT acquired 100% of this venture in 1999. Over the period 1980 to 2000, BT and other providers adopted Internet product strategies when it became commercially advantageous. In June 1994 BT and MCI Communications launched Concert Communications Services which
6751-722: The England national football team is a major user of Wembley. In 2007, the League Cup final moved back to Wembley from Cardiff following the FA Cup final and FA Community Shield . Other showpiece football matches that were previously staged at Wembley, such as the Football League promotion play-offs and the Football League Trophy final, have returned to the stadium. In addition, the Conference National (now National League) play-off final
6908-809: The English National Health Service (NHS). In 2005, BT made a number of acquisitions. In February 2005, BT acquired Infonet (now re-branded BT Infonet), a large telecoms company based in El Segundo, California , giving BT access to new geographies. It also acquired the Italian company Albacom. Then in April 2005, it bought Radianz from Reuters (now rebranded as BT Radianz), which expanded BT's coverage and provided BT with more buying power in certain countries. In August 2006, BT acquired online electrical retailer Dabs.com for £30.6 million. The BT Home Hub manufactured by Inventel
7065-562: The FA Cup Final – the final of England's primary domestic club football competition. It is widely regarded as one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world, and is considered a hub for the English game. Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association , whose headquarters are in the stadium, through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). With 90,000 seats, it
7222-619: The FA Trophy , the FA Vase , finals of the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy , the FA Cup semi-finals , and the promotion play-off finals of the tiers two, three, four , and five of the English football league system . The stadium also hosts the Women's FA Cup finals and an increasing number of home games of the England women's national football team . A UEFA category four stadium, Wembley hosted
7379-521: The UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, England won 2–0 against Germany at Wembley, for the national team's first knockout victory against their international rivals Germany at a major international football tournament, since the 1966 World Cup final at the original Wembley Stadium . On 7 July 2021, in the semi-final match at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, England won 2–1 against Denmark at Wembley, for
7536-573: The US Department of Justice , and the US Federal Communications Commission and looked set to proceed. However, in light of pressure from investors reacting to the slide in BT's share price on the London Stock Exchange , BT reduced its bid price for MCI, releasing MCI from its exclusivity clause and allowing it to speak to other interested parties. On 1 October 1997, Worldcom made a rival bid for MCI which
7693-550: The United Kingdom to around 18 million customers. A number of privately owned electrical telegraph companies operated in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1846 onwards. Among them were: The Telegraph Act 1868 passed the control of all these to the Postal Telegraphs Department of the newly formed General Post Office (GPO). The Telegraph Act 1869 granted the GPO
7850-495: The iPhone 5 ( iOS ), HTC One XL ( Android ), Samsung Galaxy S III (Android), Samsung Galaxy Note II (Android), Huawei Ascend P1 (Android), Nokia Lumia 920 ( Windows Phone ), Nokia Lumia 820 (Windows Phone). The company also announced that they would be using two 4G mobile broadband devices manufactured by Huawei - the E589 Mobile Wi-Fi device and E392 mobile broadband dongle. On 11 September 2012, it
8007-517: The 1970s, resulting in the EPSS , International Packet Switched Service , and Packet Switch Stream . In 1979 the Conservatives decided that telecommunications should be fully separated from the Post Office. The British Telecom brand was introduced in 1980. On 1 October 1981, this became the official name of Post Office Telecommunications, which became a state-owned corporation independent of
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#17327725658308164-550: The 2007 Challenge Cup Final. The first official try at the renovated Wembley was scored by James Roby of St Helens, although Luke Metcalfe of Castleford High School scored the first try in the schools game that took place before the 2007 Challenge Cup final. Castleford Academy (formerly Castleford High School) currently hold the record for the most Rugby League appearances at the New Wembley Stadium. On 24 August 2013 their Year 7 Rugby team played RGS High Wycombe in
8321-465: The Concert managed network was extensive. Although Concert continued signing customers, its rate of revenue growth slowed, so that in 1999 David Dorman was made CEO with a brief to revive it. In late 2000, the BT and AT&T boards fell-out, partly due to each partner's excess debt and the resulting board room clear-outs, partly due to Concert's extensive annual losses. AT&T recognized that Concert
8478-472: The Emergency Services Network. The geographic reach of its 4G network in Scotland surpassed 75% at the end of 2017. On 11 September 2018, it was announced that EE are upgrading its 4G network by converting airwaves from 3G to 4G. It currently uses frequencies in the 2,100 MHz band for 3G and is converting – or 'refarming' it for 4G. More than 500 sites will be upgraded in the next six months and are
8635-555: The FA full rights to keep control of the Club Wembley business. On 18 July 2018, a parliamentary select committee was held to discuss the possible sale, with evidence being given by former player, Gary Neville , and Katrina Law of the Football Supporters' Federation . The offer was withdrawn on 17 October 2018. Given the ownership of the stadium by the Football Association (the governing body of English football),
8792-519: The London 2012 Olympics. Additionally, the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final returned to Wembley Stadium in 2007, and the stadium also hosted both semi-finals of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup . Wembley was one of the 13 venues for the 2015 Rugby World Cup . The Race of Champions staged their 2007 and 2008 events at the stadium. Tottenham Hotspur agreed with the operators (Wembley National Stadium Ltd) to use
8949-589: The National Telephone Company were acquired by the UK Government to form Post Office Telephones in late 1911. Post Office engineers in the inter-war period had considerable expertise in both telecommunications and hearing assistive devices. Transistors were invented by Bell Telephone Laboratories in the US in 1948, however it was not until the mid-1960s that a transistorised oscillator
9106-628: The Post Office under the provisions of the British Telecommunications Act 1981 . In 1982 BT's monopoly on telecommunications was broken with the granting of a licence to Mercury Communications . On 19 July 1982, the Government announced its intention to sell shares in British Telecom to the public. On 1 April 1984, British Telecommunications was incorporated as a public limited company (plc) in anticipation of
9263-555: The UK after the re-branding of existing Orange, T-Mobile, and Everything Everywhere shops in October 2012. In January 2013, it was announced that EE would close 78 shops, with no job losses, because in several locations there were two on the same street, often close together. In January 2014, it was announced that EE would close a further 76 duplicated shops and there would be 50 new ones, including 30 franchise outlets, estimated to create 350 jobs. The franchise outlets would grow to 100 by
9420-491: The UK population, with double speed 4G reaching 80%, while EE's 3G network reached 98% of the population. Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom (now Orange S.A. ) announced plans to merge their respective UK ventures – T-Mobile UK and Orange UK – on 8 September 2009. T-Mobile's UK unit had its origins in Mercury Communications , formed in 1989, and Orange had launched its services in 1994 while under
9577-499: The UK population, with double speed 4G reaching 80%. EE's 3G network reaches 98% of the population while its 2G network reaches 99%. On 24 April 2016, it was announced that as part of a new strategy, EE are aiming to extend the geographic reach of its 4G network in the UK from the current 60% to 95% by 2020, which will increase the proportion of the UK's population covered by the 4G network from 95% to 99.8%. In order to achieve this, EE will build more than 750 new sites. Its 4G network
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#17327725658309734-417: The UK, and mobile EE shops in vans would serve customers in the most remote areas. EE owns and operates national 2G , 4G and 5G mobile phone networks in the UK. On 22 June 2010, Everything Everywhere announced plans to roll out HD voice calling throughout its network by the end of summer. The technology was initially trialled on Orange's network in Bristol , Reading and Southampton , before it
9891-696: The UK, removing these products from their website and retail stores. However, these brands were still available via telesales and through third-party retail channels. The phase out was completed in March 2015, with new connections and upgrades only available on EE branded services. During 2014, Deutsche Telekom and Orange S.A. were reported to be considering options to sell EE or divest it through an initial public offering . On 15 December 2014, BT confirmed it had entered into exclusive talks to buy EE for £12.5 billion. On 5 February 2015, BT confirmed it would be acquiring EE for £12.5 billion; subject to regulatory approval, and received final unconditional approval by
10048-629: The Vodafone network). BT Mobile and EE also have an MVNO agreement, which has allowed BT Mobile to offer packages since March 2014. EE purchased LIFE Mobile in October 2014, a MVNO set up by Phones 4u in 2013 from PWC . On 3 September 2010, Everything Everywhere announced that Orange would join Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), the 3G network sharing joint venture formed in December 2007 between T-Mobile UK and Hutchison 3G UK (H3G UK). MBNL would become
10205-594: The acquisition of Lynx Technology. BT acquired Wire One Communications in June 2008 and folded the company into "BT Conferencing", its existing conferencing unit, as a new video business unit In July 2008, BT acquired the online business directory firm Ufindus for £20 million in order to expand its position in the local information market in GB. On 28 July 2008, BT acquired Ribbit , of Mountain View, California , "Silicon Valley's First Phone Company". Ribbit provides Adobe Flash / Flex APIs, allowing web developers to incorporate telephony features into their software as
10362-454: The adoption of NFC for mobile payments in the UK. On 18 July 2011, Tom Alexander announced unexpectedly that he would step down as CEO. Alexander had joined Orange in 2008 and had led the company since its formation in July 2010. It was announced that he would leave his post on 31 August 2011 and would be replaced by Olaf Swantee, who had held the position of Executive VP of European Activities and Sourcing for France Télécom in addition to being
10519-441: The annual schools curtain-raiser to the Challenge Cup final. This was Castleford Academy's 4th appearance at the stadium since 2007. This puts them joint with Leeds and one appearance ahead of Warrington . In 2015, a second statue was erected outside of Wembley, depicting Rugby League legends Martin Offiah , Alex Murphy , Eric Ashton , Gus Risman and Billy Boston . In 2011, International rugby league returned to Wembley for
10676-406: The busiest 'hotspots' in its network where there is the greatest demand for mobile data . These sites are spread across cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Exeter, Hull, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast. In addition to providing better speeds and reliability, these sites will provide five 'carriers' of 4G which is more than any other UK operator and accommodate
10833-500: The construction of 105 new sites which are spread across Northern England , North Wales and Scotland and is in the process of building a further 350 new sites to continue filling in mobile not-spots. Many of these new sites are in areas that have previously had no coverage from any operator and have already carried more than 200 emergency 999 calls where people would have previously been unable to call for help. The new sites are being built to provide coverage for EE's customers and for
10990-640: The construction project started as far back as 2003. In December 2003, the constructors of the arch, subcontractors Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company of Darlington , warned Multiplex about rising costs. Cleveland Bridge withdrew from the project and were replaced by Dutch firm Hollandia, with all the attendant problems of starting over. 2004 also saw errors, most notably a fatal accident involving carpenter Patrick O'Sullivan for which construction firm PC Harrington Contractors were fined £150,000 in relation to breaches of health and safety laws. In October 2005, Sports Minister Richard Caborn announced: "They say
11147-418: The cost of financing) was estimated to be £1 billion. For the new stadium the level of the pitch was lowered. During excavation of the new playing field, mechanical diggers unearthed a buried obstruction: the concrete foundations of Watkin's Tower , a failed attempt to construct a rival to the Eiffel Tower in London. Only the base of the tower was ever built before being abandoned and demolished in 1907;
11304-552: The current maximum of 50 Mbit/s to up to 100 Mbit/s on more than 900 sites across the UK. It is also expanding its UK-wide 4G+ with more than 1,000 sites supporting 'Cat 9' speeds above 400 Mbit/s. The geographic reach of its 4G network is now 85%. On 19 March 2018, it was announced that EE had filled 12,000 km (4,600 square miles) of mobile not-spots in the last 12 months as part of its 4G geographic reach strategy of 95% by 2020, currently 90%. This involved upgrading more than 4,000 existing sites to provide 4G, and
11461-425: The customer" and further emphasised the separation of the brands, saying that each brand would maintain "its own shops, marketing campaigns, propositions and service centres". The companies' network sharing plans (allowing Orange customers to utilise T-Mobile's 2G signal and vice versa) were released to customers in October 2010. The "switch-on" was rolled out utilising an opt-in page on each brand's website. However,
11618-536: The early 1970s, subscribers in most cities could dial direct to Western Europe, the US, and Canada; by the end of the decade, most of the world could be dialled direct. The System X digital switching platform was developed, and the first digital exchanges began to be installed. The Post Office also procured their own fleet of vans, based on the Commer FC model. Post Office Telecommunications researched and implemented data communications using packet switching in
11775-456: The end of 2010. EE inherited the Orange UK broadband service , and as of April 2015 EE had around 900,000 broadband customers. EE launched a TV service for broadband customers in November 2014. Using an EE-branded set-top box , it offered standard Freeview channels through an aerial connection along with PVR features and catch-up TV services, competing against YouView . In June 2019
11932-407: The end of June, when the FA and World Cups would be played. However, it was mentioned during live commentary of the mid-May 2007 FA Cup Final that the pitch was in partial shade at the start at 3 pm and also during the match. The stadium roof rises to 52 metres (171 ft) above the pitch and is supported by an arch rising 133 m (436 ft) above the level of the external concourse. With
12089-430: The end of the year, including the transfer of 45 directly managed shops to franchise partners. The move saw its number of shops reduce from 600 to 574 (including the 100 franchise outlets). In September 2014, it was announced that following the collapse of Phones 4u in the UK, EE would acquire 58 of its shops for £2.5 million in a deal with its administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers . The deal safeguarded 359 jobs and
12246-478: The end of year, as part of BT's plans to save £360 million a year following its acquisition of EE. The move began in November 2016. In November 2010, EE announced the opening of six "dual-branded" shops: three were led by T-Mobile and three by Orange, and each promoted the other brand's products. The company expanded further in early 2011. Five new shops had an Everything Everywhere–branded fascia, although they represented and sold both T-Mobile and Orange. During
12403-481: The expected launch of the latest generation of iPhone (the iPhone 5), thereby arousing suspicion that the new iPhone would support 4G and that Everything Everywhere would launch its service on this widely anticipated handset. Other commentators suggested that the HTC One XL would be the first handset to launch utilising Everything Everywhere's 4G network. The handsets that the company initially launched on EE are
12560-487: The failed merger led to their removal. As BT owned Concert in 1994, and still wanted access to the North American market, it needed a new partner. An AT&T /BT option had been mooted in the past, but stopped on regulatory grounds due to their individual virtual monopolies in their home markets. By 1996, this had receded to the point where a deal was possible, and a deal was consummated in 1998. At its height,
12717-414: The final. It's probably the worst pitch we've played on all year. It was not good enough for a Wembley pitch." The stadium was then relaid with a Desso GrassMaster semi-artificial pitch, ahead of the 2010 community shield game between Chelsea and Manchester United . Michael Owen , who previously criticised the pitch for causing him injury, said that it was much improved. In 2023 the stadium switched to
12874-644: The first customers on to 21CN was successfully tested at Adastral Park in Suffolk. In January 2007, BT acquired Sheffield-based ISP, PlusNet plc, adding 200,000 customers. BT stated that PlusNet will continue to operate separately out of its Sheffield head-office. On 1 February 2007, BT announced agreed terms to acquire International Network Services Inc. (INS), an international provider of IT consultancy and software. In February 2007, Sir Michael Rake succeeded Sir Christopher Bland. In April that year, they acquired COMSAT International, followed in October by
13031-450: The first non-English rugby league team to play in the final. The result saw St Helens retain the cup by a score of 30–8 before 84,241 fans. The first rugby league team to win a game at the new Wembley Stadium, were Normanton Freeston . The West Yorkshire secondary school beat Castleford High School in the Year 7 boys Carnegie Champion Schools final, which was played immediately prior to
13188-521: The first online not-for-profit fundraising service for UK charities called BT MyDonate as part of its investment to the community. The service will pass on 100% of all donations made through the site to the charity, and unlike other services which take a proportion as commission and charge charities for using their services, BT will only pass on credit/debit card charges for each donation. The service allows people to register to give money to charity or collect fundraising donations. BT developed MyDonate with
13345-412: The first time since 1997 when Wales lost to New Zealand 0–36 and Australia beat host nation England 36–20 in the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations . The semi-finals of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup were played at Wembley Stadium where defending champions New Zealand beat England 20–18, and eventual tournament champions Australia defeated Fiji 64–0. The double header drew 67,575 fans to Wembley,
13502-479: The first women's international to take place at the stadium. On 23 November 2014 the England women's team played at the stadium for the first time when they lost 3–0 to Germany in a friendly. The stadium, with pandemic restrictions, hosted the UEFA Euro 2020 , which included all three of England's Group D , two round of 16 matches, both semi-finals , and the final . On 29 June 2021, in the round of 16 match at
13659-547: The form of Mott MacDonald , Sinclair Knight Merz and Aurecon . The design of the building services was carried out by Mott MacDonald. The construction of the stadium was managed by Australian company Multiplex and funded by Sport England , WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Limited), the Football Association , the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the London Development Agency . It
13816-487: The full England national team was a friendly played on 1 June 2007, against Brazil . The match saw captain John Terry become the first England international goal scorer at the new stadium when he scored in the 68th minute. Diego became the first full international player to score for a visiting team when he scored in stoppage time, with the full-time result being a 1–1 draw. The first competitive senior international
13973-545: The game 3–1 in front of 61,589 which was a stadium record until the Championship play-off final two days later when Derby County beat West Bromwich Albion 1–0 to become the first team at the new stadium to win promotion to the FA Premier League. The first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley (between Manchester United and Chelsea ) was on 19 May 2007, with a crowd attendance of 89,826. Chelsea won 1–0 with
14130-419: The game to Cardiff 's Millennium Stadium . On 20 March 2006, a steel rafter in the roof of the new development fell by 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 ft (46 cm), forcing 3,000 workers to evacuate the stadium and raising further doubts over the completion date which was already behind schedule. On 23 March 2006, sewers beneath the stadium buckled due to ground movement. GMB Union leader Steve Kelly said that
14287-421: The goal was to cover 70 per cent of the population by the end of 2013, and 90 per cent by the end of 2014. EE had early problems and issues of no signal across both its 3G and 4G networks with senior EE staff conceding they were facing 'teething problems'. On 20 February 2013, Ofcom announced that EE had been awarded more 4G spectrum in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands, bidding around £588 million for
14444-597: The growing "office automation" market was addressed through Merlin-branded desktop computers made by ICL , with built-in modems to communicate over the phone network. Later products included the Merlin Tonto – developed by ICL from the Sinclair QL home computer – and the Merlin M4000 , a rebadged Logica computer. In the 1990s, BT entered the Irish telecommunications market through a joint venture with
14601-621: The handover in March, the stadium was officially opened on Saturday 19 May, with the staging of the 2007 FA Cup Final . Eight days before that on Friday 11 May, the statue of Bobby Moore had been unveiled by his former England team-mate Sir Bobby Charlton outside the stadium entrance, as the "finishing touch" to the completion of the stadium. The twice life-size bronze statue, sculpted by Philip Jackson , depicts England's 1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore , looking down Olympic Way . The pitch size, as lined for association football,
14758-435: The latest smartphones which can support connections to all five at the same time, with Five Carrier Aggregation (5 CA). It also lays the foundation for its 5G network that will be launched in 2019 where it will be built on top of the upgraded sites. EE completed the switch-off of its 3G network in February 2024. On 11 June 2018, EE became the first UK network to launch smart number technology, allowing customers to use
14915-510: The most complained-about consumer landline and broadband provider, according to regulator, Ofcom . Complaints against the UK's largest mobile operator related to topics ranging from line faults, service and provision issues to bill problems. BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom ) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London , England. It has operations in around 180 countries and
15072-459: The name change not much else changed in operations for another 12 months. On 14 May 2009, BT said it was cutting up to 15,000 jobs in the coming year after it announced its results for the year to 31 March 2009. Then in July 2009, BT offered workers a long holiday for an up front sum of 25% of their annual wage or a one-off payment of £1000 if they agree to go part-time. On 6 April 2011, BT launched
15229-403: The national team's first European Championship final ever, with Italy winning the final on Sunday 11 July 2021 against England . The stadium was also used to host the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 , albeit reserved only for the final on 31 July 2022, where England also reached the final, won the game against Germany 2–1 to bring England first ever major European honour. The final was watched by
15386-438: The new plc were owned by the Government. In November 1984, 50.2% of the new company was offered for sale to the public and employees. Shares were listed in London, New York, and Toronto and the first day of trading on was 3 December 1984. The Government sold half its remaining interest in December 1991 and the other half in July 1993. In July 1997, the new Labour Government relinquished its Special Share ("Golden Share"), retained at
15543-478: The new stadium took place on 17 May 2008, with Portsmouth winning the title 1–0 against Cardiff City ; Nwankwo Kanu scored the only goal. The final's 89,874 crowd attendance remains the largest football attendance in the new Wembley's history. Wembley Stadium hosted the UEFA Champions League final for the first time on 28 May 2011 when Barcelona played Manchester United . The stadium hosted
15700-428: The old Wembley, then Stevenage Borough in the new one). Ronnie Henry is the first ever player to lift a competitive club trophy at the new Wembley. The first penalty save and first red card came in the Conference National playoff final between Exeter City and Morecambe . The penalty was saved by Paul Jones of Exeter City from Morecambe striker Wayne Curtis . The red card was given to Matthew Gill of Exeter for
15857-453: The old and new stadium. Stevenage Borough were the first team to win a final at the new Wembley beating Kidderminster 3–2, despite trailing 2–0 at half time. The first players to play at both the old and new Wembley Stadiums were Steve Guppy (for Stevenage Borough) and Jeff Kenna (for Kidderminster Harriers). Ex- England international Guppy is also the first player to win a final at both stadia (with Wycombe Wanderers and Leicester City in
16014-541: The ownership of Hutchison Whampoa . The initial planning suggested a joint revenue of around £7.7 billion for 2008, with savings via synergies expected to total "over £445 million annually from 2014 onwards". The two companies also announced an expected investment of "£600 to £800 million in integration costs". A press release outlined a vision for the two brands, stating that "the T-Mobile UK and Orange UK brands will be maintained separately for 18 months". The merger
16171-573: The passing of the Telecommunications Bill. This Bill received royal assent on 12 April as the Telecommunications Act 1984 , and the transfer to British Telecommunications plc from British Telecom as a statutory corporation of its business, its property, its rights and liabilities took place on 6 August 1984. The remainder of the statutory corporation British Telecom was dissolved in 1994. Initially all shares in
16328-472: The pitch along with worn grass along the centre of the pitch and the touch-lines. Tottenham were forced to hold the match at Wembley due to construction delays to their new ground . Despite the pitch's condition, UEFA allowed a Champions League leg to be played at Wembley on 6 November 2018 with Tottenham hosting Dutch side PSV Eindhoven . The stadium roof has an area of 40,000 m (430,000 sq ft), of which 13,722 m (147,700 sq ft)
16485-535: The police and other parties. The data included "gender, age, postcode, websites visited, time of day text is sent [and] location of customer when call is made". When confronted by the paper, the police indicated that they would no longer go ahead with the deal. Ipsos MORI defended its actions, while EE refused to comment. In April 2013, T-Mobile UK was embroiled in a mid-contract increase controversy when it applied an above Retail Price Index increase to many contract customers but refused to allow termination as allowed by
16642-557: The primary device being connected to the EE network for the service to work. Calls can be made on multiple devices at the same time, or handed off between devices. It is available initially on Apple devices, with Android devices coming at a later date. Customers will need to be on an EE pay monthly plan on their smartphone with minimum iOS 11.3 on iPhone 6 or later. Paired iPads and Macs will need to be on minimum iOS 10 and OS X El Capitan respectively, iPod Touch with minimum iOS 10 and Apple Watch with minimum watchOS 2 . EE
16799-491: The problem had been caused by the pipes not being properly laid, and that the repair would take months. A spokesman for developers Multiplex said that they did not believe this would "have any impact on the completion of the stadium", which was then scheduled to be completed on 31 March 2006. On 30 March 2006, the developers announced that Wembley Stadium would not be ready until 2007. All competitions and concerts planned were to be moved to suitable locations. On 19 June 2006, it
16956-463: The project. Cleveland Bridge, in turn, claimed up to £15 million from Multiplex. The case was resolved in September 2008 with Cleveland Bridge ordered to pay £6.1 million in damages and 20% of Multiplex's costs, after the court found against Cleveland Bridge. The judge criticised both sides for allowing the case to reach court, pointing out that total costs were £22 million, including £1 million for photocopying. Multiplex's ultimate bill
17113-489: The rollout did not initially include automatic network roaming mid-call or the two brands' 3G services. In January 2011, Everything Everywhere and Barclaycard announced that they would be jointly introducing the UK's first contactless mobile payments system for consumers by early summer 2011. Everything Everywhere expanded its contactless mobile payments arm by announcing a deal with Mastercard in August 2012 that would see
17270-588: The same number across multiple devices in addition to their smartphones including tablets , smartwatches and laptops . It is available at no extra cost to new and existing customers and is part of its strategy to "keep customers connected by bringing together the best of mobile and broadband through first-of-their-kind converged services across the UK". It supports calls and texts across multiple devices and works even when they do not have their smartphone with them. It supports up to 5 other connected devices and will need to be internet connected via Wi-Fi or mobile, with
17427-416: The same quarter, the company also launched a number of Orange concessions in selected HMV shops. These were designed to operate as normal Orange retail shops, although with an expected lower footfall and designed to cater for HMV's younger consumers. The company removed these concessions from HMV shortly before the re-brand, with their approximately 100 staff transferred to local shops. EE had 700 shops in
17584-437: The same time confirmed it was also in talks to acquire EE . BT subsequently entered into exclusive talks to buy EE for £12.5 billion on 15 December 2014 and confirmed on 5 February 2015, subject to regulatory approval. The deal combined BT's 10 million retail customers and EE's 24.5 million direct mobile subscribers. Deutsche Telekom would own 12% of BT, while Orange S.A. would own 4%. In March 2015, BT launched
17741-481: The second highest crowd for an international rugby league game at either the original or the new stadium. The first top level rugby union match was a non-cap match between the Barbarians and Australia on 3 December 2008. EE Limited EE (formerly Everything Everywhere ) is a British mobile network operator and internet service provider , and a brand of BT Consumer , a division of BT Group . It
17898-645: The service was replaced with a new package using an Apple TV box, which also gives access to BT Sport . EE launched its first television advertisement on 3 November 2012, four days after the company launched its 4G services and new brand. The advertisements featured Kevin Bacon and his related Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon concept. The advert initially aired on ITV during The X Factor , on its Saturday evening slot on UK television. The adverts were filmed over two days during August 2012 in Lewes . EE began sponsoring
18055-533: The shops would be rebranded to EE. In July 2017, EE announced 100 store-within-a-store outlets by the end of 2019 via a partnership with Sainsbury's . This would create 400 jobs in Sainsbury's and Argos stores, and see the number of outlets reach close to 700, as part of its ambition to provide 95% of the population with access to an EE shop within 20 minutes' drive. In addition, pop-up shops and cabins would appear in shopping centres and other locations around
18212-418: The site was later used as the location for the first Wembley Stadium. The new stadium was completed and handed over to the FA on 9 March 2007. The official Wembley Stadium website had announced that the stadium would be open for public viewing for local residents of Brent on 3 March 2007, however this was delayed by two weeks and instead happened on 17 March. While the stadium had hosted football matches since
18369-399: The southern side. The arch is the world's longest unsupported roof structure. A platform system was designed in order to temporarily convert the stadium to athletics use, but its use would decrease the stadium's capacity to approximately 60,000. No athletics events (track and field) have taken place at the stadium; the conversion for athletics use was a condition of part of the lottery funding
18526-573: The spectrum. On 5 November 2013, EE began testing LTE Advanced (LTE-A) in East London Tech City . The LTE-A network offered speeds up to 300 Mbit/s when rolled out to the public in 2014. EE's LTE-Advanced was launched at the end of October 2014. On 12 February 2016, EE announced that it had reached its 2015 targets to double the number of 4G users on its network to 14 million at the year's end and remains as Europe's largest 4G operator. Its 4G network now reaches more than 95% of
18683-639: The sports of football , rugby league and American football . The first match at the stadium was a game played behind closed doors between Multiplex and Wembley Stadium staff. The first game in front of spectators was between the Geoff Thomas Foundation Charity XI and the Wembley Sponsors Allstars on 17 March 2007. The Geoff Thomas Foundation Charity XI won 2–0 (scorers Mark Bright and Simon Jordan ). The first official match involving professional players
18840-414: The stadium for all of their European fixtures during the 2016–17 season , before using the stadium for the entire 2017–18 season . They also played most of their home games of the 2018–19 season at Wembley and continued until April 2019 when they moved to their new stadium . Wembley Stadium has a series of annual events that under normal circumstances are hosted at Wembley every year. These events cover
18997-521: The stadium received, but to convert it would take weeks of work and cost millions of pounds. Instead, with the awarding of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to London in 2005, the London Olympic Stadium has been used for major athletics events since 2012. The initial plan for the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium was for demolition to begin before Christmas 2000, and for the new stadium to be completed some time during 2003, but this work
19154-524: The stores. The company's legal name changed to EE Limited on 2 September 2013. On 30 October 2012, it was announced that its Orange broadband service would be rebranded as EE, and the company would be launching a new fibre-optic broadband service, using a Bright Box router and Openreach GEA. The change took effect on 5 November 2012 through a firmware upgrade that replaced the Orange branding with EE on customers' router web interface. On 6 November 2012, it
19311-447: The support of Cancer Research UK , Changing Faces , KidsOut , NSPCC and Women's Aid . In March 2013, BT was allocated 4G spectrum in the UK following an auction and assignment by Ofcom, after paying £201.5m. On 1 August 2013, BT launched its first television channels, BT Sport , to compete with rival broadcaster Sky Sports . Plans for the channels' launch came about when it was announced in June 2012 that BT had been awarded
19468-529: The surface was relaid for the tenth time since opening. In April 2010, the pitch was again criticised following the FA Cup semi-finals , during which the players found it difficult to keep their footing and the surface cut up despite the dry conditions. The then Tottenham Hotspur boss, Harry Redknapp , labelled it a "disgrace" after his side's semi-final defeat to Portsmouth . After the 2010 FA Cup Final , Chelsea captain John Terry said, "The pitch ruined
19625-451: The terms of the contract. A number of customers complained to CISAS about the conduct of T-Mobile UK, and its handling of the matter. In August 2014, EE started a new service where customers could queue-jump when phoning EE customer services for a one-off cost of 50p to be fast tracked out of the queue to an available agent. This sparked outrage among consumers who viewed the option as at extortionate charge for being put through promptly to
19782-562: The time of the flotation, which had effectively given it the power to block a takeover of the company, and to appoint two non-executive directors to the Board. The company changed its trading name to "BT" on 2 April 1991. In 1996 Peter Bonfield was appointed CEO and chairman of the executive committee, promising a "rollercoaster ride". In the early 1980s, BT Merlin was established as a business unit of British Telecom, at first to sell products such as phone systems to small businesses. In 1983,
19939-413: The two companies work together on introducing near-field communication (NFC) technology and other mobile payment technologies into the UK. Soon after, Everything Everywhere sustained its involvement in the future of NFC technology in the UK by announcing a joint venture between itself, Vodafone and O2 . The joint venture was designed to be a "single point of contact" for all those involved in increasing
20096-448: The venue. Under the agreement, the facility is officially referred to as "Wembley Stadium connected by EE". The deal was renewed in 2019 for a further 5 years, as part of EE's parent company BT's sponsorship deal with the England football team. Wembley was designed by architects Foster + Partners and HOK Sport (now Populous) and with engineers Mott Stadium Consortium, who were a collection of three structural engineering consultants in
20253-403: Was England U21s vs Italy U21s on 24 March 2007, which finished 3–3. Official attendance was 56,700 (although all of the 60,000 tickets that were made available were sold in advance). The first player to score in a FIFA -sanctioned match was Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini after 28 seconds of the same game; he also scored the first hat-trick at Wembley. The first English player to score in
20410-446: Was "far less relevant today" because of improvements made to the headline speed of FTTC, which had doubled to 80 Mbit/s since its fibre broadband rollout was first announced. To supplement FTTC, BT offered an 'FTTP on Demand' product. In January 2015, BT stopped taking orders for the on-demand product. On 1 April 2009, BT Engage IT was created from the merger of two previous BT acquisitions, Lynx Technology and Basilica. Apart from
20567-482: Was a $ 1 billion joint venture between the two companies. Its aim was to build a network which would provide easy global connectivity to multinational corporations. This alliance progressed further on 3 November 1996 when the two companies announced that they had agreed to a merger, creating a global telecommunications company called Concert plc. The proposal gained approval from the European Commission ,
20724-446: Was a claim for £253 million against the structural engineering consultants Mott MacDonald . In preliminary hearings the two architecture practices which worked for Multiplex on the project were ordered to allow Multiplex access to their records for them to build a case. The practices, Foster + Partners and Populous , estimated the costs of providing access and answering Multiplex's queries at £5 million. Mott MacDonald issued
20881-557: Was a threat to its ambitions if left intact, and so negotiated a deal where Concert was split in two in 2001: North America and Eastern Asia went to AT&T, the rest of the world and $ 400M to BT. BT's remaining Concert assets were merged into its BT Ignite, later BT Global Services group. In 2000, BT acquired Esat Telecom Group plc , and all its subsidiary companies, and Ireland On Line . It also purchased Telenor 's minority shareholding in Esat Digifone . The Esat Telecom Group
21038-441: Was accomplished via a share-swap, all British Telecommunications plc shareholders received one mmO2 plc and one BT Group plc (of which British Telecommunications is now a wholly owned subsidiary) share for each share they owned. British Telecommunications plc was de-listed on 16 November, and the two new companies started trading on 19 November. At the end of the series of sales, Sir Peter Bonfield resigned in October 2001. Bonfield
21195-449: Was also launched in June 2006. In October 2006, BT confirmed that it would be investing 75% of its total capital spending, put at £10 billion over five years, in its new Internet Protocol (IP) based 21st century network (21CN). Annual savings of £1 billion per annum were expected when the transition to the new network was to have been completed in 2010, with over 50% of its customers to have been transferred by 2008. That month
21352-455: Was also the temporary home of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur between August 2017 and March 2019, while White Hart Lane was being demolished and their new stadium was constructed. Wembley has also been chosen as one of the host stadia for UEFA Euro 2028 . In 2014, Wembley Stadium entered into a six-year sponsorship agreement with mobile provider EE Limited , under which it provides technology and infrastructure services for
21509-404: Was announced that EE had exclusively partnered with mobile payments company iZettle . The agreement allowed EE to sell the company's mini debit/credit card readers which allow small business customers to make payments using their mobile phones. The devices initially went on sale in 297 EE stores and via EE's telesales channel. In March 2014, EE began to phase out the T-Mobile and Orange brands in
21666-429: Was announced that the EE brand would be used to identify its network on all of the company's devices (EE, T-Mobile and Orange), alongside its 4G service and the company's fibre optic broadband roll-out. The brand was described by EE as The Super Fast Brand . It was also confirmed that all ex-T-Mobile and ex-Orange shops would be re-branded EE overnight, but mobile products would continue to be sold under those brands inside
21823-420: Was announced that the turf had been laid. On 19 October 2006 it was announced that the venue was now set to open in early 2007 after the dispute between the Football Association and Multiplex had finally been settled. WNSL was expected to pay around £36m to Multiplex, on top of the amount of the original fixed-price contract. The total cost of the project (including local transport infrastructure redevelopment and
21980-866: Was awarded to EE in late 2015. EE's business division was brought together with BT Business and the UK-focused operations of BT Global Services to form a new BT Business and Public Sector division with around £5bn of revenues. Another new division, BT Wholesale and Ventures, comprised the BT Wholesale division along with EE's MVNO business as well as some specialist businesses such as Fleet, Payphones and Directories. Gerry McQuade, currently Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Business at EE, will be its CEO. On 28 July 2017, BT announced organisational changes to "simplify its operating model, strengthen accountabilities and accelerate its transformation" and involves bringing together its BT Consumer and EE divisions into
22137-447: Was cleared by the European Commission on 1 March 2010; no new company was formed, but instead T-Mobile (UK) Limited was renamed to Everything Everywhere Limited in July. The 50:50 joint venture was announced as completed on 1 April 2010, and the name Everything Everywhere was announced on 11 May 2010. On the same day the company confirmed that "roaming across both networks [would be] due later in that year, at no additional cost to
22294-478: Was delayed by a succession of financial and legal difficulties. In 2004, London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Brent Council also announced wider plans for the regeneration of Wembley , taking in the arena and the surrounding areas as well as the stadium, to be implemented over two or three decades. Demolition officially began on 30 September 2002, with the Twin Towers being dismantled in December 2002. Delays to
22451-423: Was established in 2010 and is the second-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom , with 21.2 million customers as of September 2022. It was originally formed in 2010 as a 50:50 joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom (now Orange S.A. ) following the merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK , their respective businesses in the UK; the former brands were phased out in 2015. The name
22608-448: Was expanded to the rest of the UK by the end of summer. Its request to use its surplus capacity to launch 4G services in the UK was approved by Ofcom on 21 August 2012. As part of Ofcom's approval of the company's roll-out of 4G, it was announced on 22 August 2012 that Hutchison 3G had acquired part of Everything Everywhere's 1,800 MHz spectrum. EE's 4G network, along with its nationwide marketing campaign and store re-branding,
22765-434: Was first available in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds and Newcastle, and has been switched on across the rest of the network since July 2016. On 13 September 2017, it was announced that EE are upgrading its 4G network by converting airwaves from 2G to 4G. It currently uses frequencies in the 1,800 MHz band for both 2G and 4G (its other bands are reserved solely for 3G/4G) and
22922-598: Was followed by a counter-bid from GTE . BT sold its stake in MCI to Worldcom in 1998 for £4,159 million. As part of the deal, BT also bought out from MCI its 24.9% interest in Concert Communications, thereby making Concert a wholly owned part of BT. The reaction to the failure of the deal in the City of London was critical of then Chairman Iain Vallance and CEO Peter Bonfield , and the lack of confidence from
23079-492: Was instated in 1911 prior to the absorption of the NTC into the GPO in 1912. The trunk network was unified under GPO control in 1896 and the local distribution network in 1912. A few municipally owned services remained outside of GPO control. These were Kingston upon Hull , Portsmouth and Guernsey . Hull still retains an independent operator, Kingston Communications , though it is no longer municipally controlled. The assets of
23236-403: Was introduced to make the calling sound on a telephone in the UK. In 1969 the GPO, a government department, became the Post Office , a nationalised industry separate from government. Post Office Telecommunications was set up as a division of the Post Office, in October 1969. The Post Office Act 1969 was passed to provide for greater efficiency in post and telephone services; rather than run
23393-577: Was launched on 30 October 2012; it was the UK's first 4G mobile network, while other networks rolled out their 4G networks well into 2013. 4G coverage was initially "switched on" in 11 UK cities; London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Southampton. During the latter part of 2012 and 2013, the company added more cities and towns, and planned to boost speeds in some existing locations by Summer 2013. EE claims 2,000 square miles (5,200 km ) of 4G network would be added every month from launch and
23550-553: Was played on 8 September 2007 between England and Israel . This game ended 3–0. The first player to score international goals at both the old and new stadia was Michael Owen when he scored for England against Israel. On 22 August Germany beat England 2–1 to become the first team to beat them in the new stadium. England's first competitive defeat at the new stadium was on 21 November 2007 when Croatia won 3–2. This match cost England qualification to UEFA Euro 2008 and head coach Steve McClaren his job. The second FA Cup final held at
23707-642: Was privatised in 1984, becoming British Telecommunications plc , with some 50 percent of its shares sold to investors. The Government sold its remaining stake in further share sales in 1991 and 1993. BT holds a royal warrant and has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange , and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . BT controls a number of large subsidiaries. Its BT Enterprise division supplies telecoms services to corporate and government customers worldwide, and its BT Consumer division supplies telephony , broadband , and subscription television services in
23864-531: Was replaced by O2 plc in a further share-swap in 2005, and subsequently bought in an agreed takeover by Telefónica for £18 billion and delisted. In 2004, BT launched Consult 21, a consultation organisation that was to aid BT 21CN in the eventual conversion to digital telephony. In 2004, BT was awarded the contract to deliver and manage N3, a secure and fast broadband network for the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) program, on behalf of
24021-433: Was replaced by former Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen . During Bonfield's tenure the share price went from £4 to £15, and back again to £5. Bonfield's salary to 31 March 2001 was a basic of £780,000 (increasing to £820,000) plus a £481,000 bonus and £50,000 of other benefits including pension. He also received a deferred bonus, payable in shares three years' later, of £481,000, and additional bonuses of £3.3 million. mmO2 plc
24178-446: Was shortened to EE when the company concurrently launched the UK's first 4G mobile network in 2012. EE was acquired by BT in 2016 and became a new consumer division within the wider group. EE has its headquarters in London, England, as well as hubs in Bristol , Darlington , Sunderland , Greenock , Merthyr Tydfil , North Tyneside , Plymouth and Leeds . As of November 2016 , EE's 4G network coverage reached more than 99% of
24335-548: Was sold as Yell Group to a combination of private equity firms Apax Partners and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst for £2.1 billion. A demerger followed in November 2001, when the former mobile telecommunications business of BT, BT Cellnet, was hived off as a separate business named " mmO2 ". This included BT owned or operated networks in other countries, including BT Cellnet (UK), Esat Digifone (Ireland), and Viag Interkom (Germany). All networks now owned or operated by mmO2 (except Manx Telecom ) were renamed as O2. The de-merger
24492-632: Was split in two with the landline and internet operations were combining with Ocean to become part of BT Ignite. Esat Group was renamed Esat BT in July 2002, and eventually BT Ireland in April 2005. Esat Digifone became part of BT Wireless, before being spun off into a separate independent company mmo2 plc (now Telefónica Europe ). EsatBT installed the first DSL lines in Ireland, to try and compete heavily with former state telecoms company Eircom and operate one exchange, in Limerick . By 2001, BT had
24649-521: Was switched on in Shetland and the Isles of Scilly , enabled by the fibre broadband links deployed by BT. Its 4G network at launch was only used for data connections, with customers moving to 3G while on a call, however EE have rolled out 4G Calling ( VoLTE ) across the UK to allow both voice and data over 4G as well as allowing customers to make calls in new areas of the network that are 4G-only. 4G Calling
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