IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 3 December
03-12-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
National Broadband Scheme to launch in 22 months | Cordis to create jobs in Cashel
The Irish Times reports that contracts will be signed next week on the long-awaited National Broadband Scheme to provide service to outlying areas, but it will be another 22 months before the system is operational, the Dail has heard. Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan was "satisfied" the "comprehensive" procurement process would make high-quality broadband available at the "most economically advantageous cost" but he refused to state the cost until the contract is signed on 11 December with preferred tenderer Three. Fine Gael spokesman Simon Coveney was concerned about whether the service was mobile, while Labour spokeswoman Liz McManus called on the Minister to "spell out the safeguards in place to ensure he has not simply added to the list of complaints" regarding erratic provision, difficulties in speeds and a whole range of issues "that have been raised by current customers".
The Irish Independent says that the expansion of a multi-million-euro US medical laboratory complex could lead to the creation of 350 new jobs. Cordis, a subsidiary of US multinational Johnson & Johnson, has formally opened its state-of-the-art new 180,000 square foot plant in Cashel, Co Tipperary. The project -- which was confirmed in 2006 -- has already created 100 high-value jobs and a further 350 jobs are now anticipated as part of future phased expansions of the Cashel complex.
The Irish Examiner notes that Bray-based Trinity Biotech is set to cut costs and reduce its workforce, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The paper also notes that Limerick-based firm Avvio is helping hotels fill empty rooms using internet sites. Avvio has introduced two new hospitality websites, which offer hundreds of deals on hotel rooms across Ireland. Hoteldeals.ie features a range of offers and last minute deals, while MustBook.ie will power Avvio's hotel booking service for corporate clients. Read about Avvio's expansion plans as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
According to the Financial Times, shares in Palm fell 36 percent in early trading on Monday after the US maker of PDAs said its sales in the latest quarter had almost halved. Second quarter revenues to 28 November plunged 45 percent to USD190 million, down from USD349.6 million in the same period last year. Most analysts had been expecting revenues of around USD332 million. The firm blamed reduced consumer spending for the drop in revenue and said it was planning to cut costs by 20 percent by trimming its workforce and streamlining its European operations.
The paper also notes that debt-burdened Telecom Italia is to shed non-core assets worth up to USD3.82 billion and cut 5 percent of its workforce in a bid to slash borrowings and trim costs. But the company confirmed it aims to strengthen its presence in Brazil as part of its 2009-2011 business plan, despite recent reports that it could consider splitting off or selling the unit. The strategy focuses heavily on slashing costs and trimming its EUR37 billion debt load and relies on growth largely from Italy and Brazil.
The Wall Street Journal says that Google is curbing spending and cutting new projects and employee perks as revenue growth has slowed dramatically over the past year. "We have to behave as though we don't know what's going to happen," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. The company will curtail the "dark matter," he said, projects that "haven't really caught on" and "aren't really that exciting." He says the company is "not going to give" an engineer 20 people to work with on certain experimental projects anymore. "When the cycle comes back," he said, "we will be able to fund his brilliant vision." The company also said it wants to "prioritise our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business".
The paper also reports that former AOL chief Jonathan Miller is talking to investors about raising money to purchase all or part of Yahoo, a long-shot deal that signals that investors' interest in the troubled internet firm has yet to subside. Miller, who ran AOL from 2002 to 2006, has been sounding out private-equity investors and sovereign-wealth funds for months, and it is unclear where the talks stand, sources say. Miller believes he can fashion a deal that would be worth about USD20 to USD22 a share to Yahoo shareholders, according to sources, which would involve raising about USD28 billion to USD30 billion to purchase the entire company.
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