Sunday newspaper round-up: Network Rail, Sky, Channel 4

Network Rail directors have been meeting with government officials to explore the potential quasi-privatisation of the company, the Sunday Times reported. The idea is being considered as a way to fix its service and prevent costs from spiralling on major projects. The newspaper cited senior sources who said the board were examining the plans for the creation of "risk capital", quoting one government source as saying, "what they need is the discipline that comes with equity".Sky will this week call on Ofcom to investigate what it says is BT's failure to provide an adequate service to both businesses and consumers, the Mail on Sunday wrote. The company is expected to accuse BT of failing to complete an average of 4,000 jobs each month, changing agreed installation dates 36,000 times in the same time frame, and taking too long to install the majority of new lines. The strategy officer at Sky was quoted as saying that Ofcom "should move fast to ask the Competition & Markets Authority to undertake a full competition inquiry".Publicly-owned broadcaster Channel 4 could face a move out of London after it was revealed the government has been discussing the potential sale of its central London headquarters, the Sunday Telegraph revealed. It cited sources saying the idea was one of several being considered, including a possible sale of the company, which its directors are resisting. The iconic building in Westminster, which is valued at £85m, has been the C4 home since its completion in 1994.British Sky Broadcasting and Liberty Global have both suggested as potential bidders for CVC's 35.5% controlling stake in Formula One, rivalling RSE Ventures which was last week revealed to be preparing its own offer. Insiders told the Sunday Times that RSE was just one of several potential buyers in informal talks with the private equity firm. CVC has brought Goldman Sachs on board to advise it on the sale.The Mail on Sunday has seen figures that show there would be "huge local duplication" of betting shops if a merger of Coral and Ladbrokes were to go ahead. The newspaper said that according to numbers from The Local Data Company, 29% of Ladbrokes shops have at least six Coral outlets with a 20-minute drive, with many being even closer. The two companies revealed they were in talks about a potential tie-up last week.The Telegraph reported on warnings from TalkTalk chief executive Baroness Harding that Hutchison Whampoa's takeover of O2 will result in higher charges for British bill payers. She said the £10.25bn deal by the owner of the Three network would be "unambiguously bad for consumers". The newspaper also said that it understood TalkTalk was looking to acquire mobile spectrum and potentially become a network operator in its own right. Sources told the publication that the company has tried to persuade the government to support the reinstatement of a four-player mobile market if the merger gets approved.An upwards revision to Britain's growth rate is on the cards this week following an improvement in official estimates of growth in the construction industry, the Sunday Times reported. The news, expected in Tuesday's announcement from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), will heat up the debate over when interest rates should be raised by the Bank of England. The ONS is expected to upwardly revise first quarter GDP from 0.3% to 0.4%, and from 2.8% to 2.9% for the whole of 2014.Richard Desmond, whose company owns OK! Magazine and the Daily Express, took an additional £69.1m payment from Channel 5 just before he sold it Viacom in January last year, the Mail on Sunday said. The payment was taken as an interim dividend and is understood to have been taken into account by the US buyer when it made the £450m agreement in May of that year. Desmond bought the channel, which screens programmes such as 'Neighbours', for £103.5m four years earlier.