In The Papers 2 December

02-12-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

UPC considers legal action against digibox users | Blue Ocean Wireless signs biggest deal to date

The Irish Times reports that UPC Ireland has settled its court case against Thomas Roddy, an alleged supplier of illegal digital boxes in Ireland, as reported by ENN. The paper also says that buyers of these boxes could face legal action following the settlement of the case, which saw Roddy handing over details of his distribution network in Ireland and his supply network outside Ireland. A spokeswoman for UPC said it has already been given a list of more than 100 people who installed or received illegal digital boxes from Roddy and is considering what action to take against them. UPC is advising people who believe they may be using an illegal service to contact the company.

The paper also says that US internet retailer CSN Stores is to create 200 new jobs in Galway. Read more on this story on ENN.

The paper also notes that Renishaw Ireland is to expand its operations in Swords with a new research and development plant. The facility will design and make new medical instruments to treat a range of neurological diseases. The new jobs will include 17 research and development positions and 43 manufacturing posts, to be rolled out over the next three years.

According to the same paper, Irish maritime communications group Blue Ocean Wireless has agreed a five-year deal to install its GSM telecoms equipment on 300 ships in the fleet of Hamburg-based Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM). This is Blue Ocean's biggest contract to date and is potentially worth "many millions" of dollars to the fledgling Irish company, according to Chief Executive Robert Johnson.

The same paper notes that Australian investment fund Babcock & Brown, which controls Eircom through a listed satellite fund, has sought an extension to the voluntary suspension of its shares. Babcock said it expected to make a further announcement in relation to the discussions with its banks by Wednesday.

The Financial Times reports that Japanese consumer electronics firm Canon has cleared the way to launch a new type of television after winning a patent lawsuit that has delayed its progress for more than three years. Applied Nanotech, which had sued Canon for illegally sub-licensing its patents, said it had decided not to appeal to the US Supreme Court. Canon can now press ahead with televisions based on surface-conduction electron-emitter displays, or SED. Such TVs can produce the wide viewing angle and deep colours of a traditional cathode-ray television, but are as thin as a liquid-crystal or plasma display. SED is a rival technology to organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, a system backed by Sony and Samsung, and could shake up the huge market for televisions and monitors.

The same paper says that Tony Chanmugam, BT's new finance director, has pledged further "cost transformation" at a "greater pace", raising expectations that the company's cost-cutting programme will be beefed up. "I'm looking at building on the foundations Hanif [Lalani, the outgoing finance director] laid," said Chanmugam. "First of all I'm looking at the cost transformation here. I want to work at a greater pace." BT has outlined plans to axe 10,000 jobs in 2008-2009 as part of a wide-ranging move to cut STG1.25 billion from its operating cost base.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Intel and a unit of Hitachi have formed an alliance to develop high-end data-storage devices based on chips known as flash memory. The companies said Intel will supply the chips -- which it manufactures in a joint venture with Micron Technology -- as well as technology for packaging them in what the industry calls solid-state drives. Hitachi will supply other technology and integrate the components into systems that can be used with servers, workstations and other high-performance hardware. Products from the venture are expected in early 2010.

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