
EE says latest outage fixed after 'technical fault'
The BBC's Your Voice, Your News continued to receive messages from readers on Saturday saying that they had experienced issues with their phone service.One 84-year-old customer said she and her husband were left unable to make "vital" daily calls to their daughter and son-in-law."The service is still down, into our third day of no service is unacceptable," said another customer from Essex, who added that "the lack of information is deafening"."This is still an ongoing issue," reported another customer from Exeter, who said multiple offices of his estate agency business were all experiencing problems making calls.Earlier this week, EE customers reported that they were unable to make or receive calls, including to 999.BT apologised for that outage on Thursday and said that it happened "following a technical fault impacting voice services" on their network.Responding to the latest outage, EE said on Saturday: "We continue to conduct enhanced monitoring to prevent recurrence. "We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this issue has caused."

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The Independent
35 minutes ago
- The Independent
Electric car grants and discounts round up – Citroen first to get grants, while Vauxhall and Fiat are the latest with discounts
Citroen is the first car maker to offer discounts on its electric car range as part of the official government Electric Car Grants that were announced three weeks ago, with the eligible Citroen models now showing on the official government website as being available with grant money applied to the list price. Models including the Citroën e-C3, e-C4, e-C4 X and e-Berlingo are getting £1,500 off with immediate effect, with customers automatically benefiting from the discounts without having to do any paperwork. The upcoming e-C3 Aircross and e-C5 Aircross models are also set to get the same £1,500 discounts when they go on sale in the coming months. The first official discounts come three weeks after the government's announcement of the Electric Car Grant, and as news broke of a drop in car sales. Overall car sales were down five per cent in July, while there was a clear slow down in the rate of growth of EV sales. It had been expected that there would be a pause in electric car sales as buyers waited to see which cars would be eligible for discounts and which cars wouldn't. One car company executive, speaking anonymously to The Independent, confirmed that dealers were reporting customers cancelling orders until it was clear which cars were and which cars weren't eligible for grants.. The electric car grant was announced on Monday 14 July and went live on Wednesday 16 July. Car makers must apply for the grants, which are available on EVs up to the price of £37,000 and where car makers have signed up to low-carbon 'science-based targets' around manufacturing. Grants of between £1,500 and £3,750 will be available for eligible cars. While the announcement of the EV grant has been broadly welcomed by car makers, it took many of them by surprise, with some learning about the government plan via the media. As car companies grapple with the process involved in getting approval for the grants, many of them have introduced their own discount schemes to incentivise customers to keep buying their electric cars. The latest discounts come from Vauxhall and Fiat – fellow Stellantis brands to Citroen. Vauxhall is offering £1,500 off its entire range of Corsa, Frontera, Mokka, Grandland, Astra and Astra Sports Tourer, with additional benefits including up to £1,500 deposit contribution on zero per cent finance on some models, or a £2,500 deposit contribution towards finance on the Grandland. Vauxhall's 'Electric All In' offer of £500 towards a home charger or public charging also still stands. Fiat is offering £1,500 off its 500e, Fiat 600e, Abarth 500e and Abarth 600e all-electric models, with zero per cent finance still available on the 500e. Volkswagen Group brands VW, Skoda and Cupra have launched a 'Grant Guarantee' discount scheme while waiting for news from the government. VW is offering £1,500 off selected ID. 3 and ID. 4 all-electric models. 'We welcomed the Government's announcement of its Electric Car Grant and wanted to make sure customers could start benefitting from lower-cost electric motoring as quickly as possible. We have already seen an uplift in enquiries since the Government's grant was announced, which is great news for Volkswagen's electrification plans,' said Rod McLeod, Director of Volkswagen UK. Skoda is offering the same £1,500 discount across its Elroq and Enyaq model range, but not the Enyaq Coupe, while Cupra is offering £1,500 off many of its Cupra Born models. VW, Skoda and Cupra offers apply to cars bought during August and registered for the new 75 registration plate with deliveries starting on September 1. However, VW, Skoda and Cupra have all made it clear that if the government's EV grant comes through, the brands' Grant Guarantee scheme will end – customers won't be able to receive both. Last week, Volvo introduced a discount in lieu of any government grant, with £1,500 off any of the brand's EX30 electric models, even those that cost over the £37,000 limit. Smart also offered its own 'EV grant' with £1,500 off the whole range of Smart #1 and #3, in addition to existing incentives. That means you could save a total of £3,500 off a Smart #1, for example. Hyundai has its own electric grant, with the biggest discount available on Hyundai's smallest model. The Hyundai Inster – recently voted World Electric Car of the Year – gets a £3,750 'grant' bringing the entry-level car's price down to £19,755. There's still an additional £500 off if you go for Hyundai's low-rate PCP finance, too. The rest of the Hyundai electric car range, including models over £37,000, are also getting a £1,500 discount as part of the offer. Buyers of Chinese-made EVs were also left to reconsider their purchases with news that the government wasn't expecting those models to be eligible for the Electric Car Grant. Speaking on Radio Four, Minister for the Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, said: 'We don't expect any cars that are assembled in China to be eligible for this scheme. 'The grant is restricted to those manufacturers that reach minimum environmental standards. And, frankly, if you generate a lot of the electricity that powers your factory through coal power stations, then you are not going to be able to access this grant." The Department for Transport told The Independent: 'We expect dozens of models will be eligible but manufacturers will need to apply for the grant before we can confirm eligibility. We have held multiple calls with vehicle manufacturers to explain vehicle eligibility and how to apply for the grant. These discussions will continue to ensure manufacturers have all the information they need. 'All eligible models will be published on once the application has been approved. Applications will be processed on a first come, first served basis and as quickly as possible.' Chinese car brands have been quick to react by introducing their own 'EV grants' to stimulate demand among private buyers. Leapmotor was first out of the blocks with its Leap Grant, offering £1,500 off the Leapmotor T03, making it Britain's cheapest car at £14,495, while the Leapmotor C10 family SUV gets a £3,750 discount, taking the price down to £32,750. MG followed with its own EV grant, offering a discount of £1,500 off the MG4 and MGS5 EVs on top of existing offers, while another Chinese brand, GWM, has taken the full £3,750 off its GWM ORA 03 models with its Green Grant, bringing the starting price down to £21,245. Relatively unknown Chinese brand Skywell is also throwing its own EV grant of £3,750 on top of a £6,000 dealer deposit contribution if you buy the Skywell BE11 on finance. That brings the potential list price down to just £27,245 for the entry-level car. The BE11 is far from the best EV you can buy, but at that price it represents a lot of car for the money. It's not just Chinese brands applying discounts, though. Alfa Romeo is offering £1,500 off its Alfa Junior Elettrica range, on top of existing zero per cent finance offers and the promise of a free EV home charger with standard installation.


Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Bureaucracy is a spoke in wheel of e-bike revolution
Every day, thousands of Londoners choose to travel by e-bike. Whether for commuting, meeting friends or exploring the capital, e-bikes are opening up green, affordable and accessible cycling to a much wider audience. This demand is borne out in the data. Just last month Forest, the e-bike company I co-founded in 2021, reached a record-breaking 1.5 million rides across London, a 60 per cent increase from last year. While the upsides of getting more people cycling are obvious — it promotes healthier lifestyles, eases congestion and is better for the environment — we are acutely aware of the challenges that come with rising demand. No one benefits from e-bikes cluttering pavements or being parked irresponsibly. We know that. E-bikes should complement London's streets, not complicate them. So, what is the issue? Cities like Oxford and Bristol have one coherent operating area, but London has a tangled web of conflicting rules across different boroughs. One council bans parking in certain areas, another permits it freely. Some impose strict fines, others barely enforce regulations at all. This patchwork means riders are often confused about what they can and can't do. And it undermines public confidence in an otherwise transformative mode of transport. • Cut parking for second cars to make room for e-bikes, says rental firm We need consistency across all boroughs. Without it, we're opening the door to operators more focused on market share than street harmony. We're not advocating for fewer rules, in fact we're calling for more of them. London urgently needs a single regulatory framework. One set of parking standards, one enforcement model, and one operational rulebook should apply from Brent to Bromley. A coherent approach would allow riders to enjoy the benefits of cycling without worrying how to end their journey. Part of the challenge lies in Whitehall. The stalled English Devolution Bill has left London, not to mention other major British cities, without the powers to govern its mobility infrastructure effectively. That must change. Transport for London needs the authority to plan and implement a city-wide strategy across borough boundaries. • Chris Hoy joins e-bike revolution . . . but can 'weekend warriors' catch up? Forest is ready to work with regulators, not around them. We want higher standards, better accountability and smarter city planning. But that future cannot be built one borough at a time. Londoners are ready for a change. Let's give them the infrastructure and clarity they need to use e-bikes safely, confidently and responsibly. One city. One set of rules. Agustin Guilisasti is co-founder and CEO of Forest

Finextra
4 hours ago
- Finextra
GCEX Group launches trading app
GCEX Group, a leading regulated digital prime brokerage, has launched its cutting-edge trading XplorDigital app, which is now available for GCEX's institutional and professional clients to download on the UK Apple App Store and globally on Google Play. It will be rolled out over the coming months on the App store globally. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. GCEX's new app marks a significant step in providing professional traders, hedge funds, and institutional clients with seamless, secure, and efficient trading solutions across forex, crypto, commodities and indices on any device. The XplorDigital app is designed for institutional-grade multi-asset trading, with comprehensive charting, technical analysis, and customisable interface features. It provides GCEX's clients with easy access to trade and manage all the firm's products available to them, according to jurisdiction and account type. 'The launch of our XplorDigital app empowers our clients with flexibility, speed, and security, ensuring they can trade anytime, anywhere with confidence. This reinforces our commitment to providing best-in-class trading technology and access to deep liquidity,' said Lars Holst, Founder & CEO of GCEX. Key features of the XplorDigital app: • Institutional-grade liquidity for multiple assets • Seamless on-ramp/off-ramp • Low-latency execution • Advanced charting and technical analysis • Secure and reliable trading environment • White-label ready GCEX is regulated across multiple jurisdictions, and continues to set the benchmark in bridging traditional finance with digital asset trading. The XplorDigital app is a cornerstone of GCEX's XplorDigital trading solutions, encompassing the 'Broker In A Box' plug-and-play white-label solution. This comprehensive offering also includes back office, risk management, credit utilisation, analytics, reporting, account management and a sophisticated liquidity price engine which provides access to tier 1 and deep liquidity and connectivity to the biggest price makers.