In the papers 14 February
14-02-2007
by Sylvia Leatham

Rumours say BT could review Irish operations | Vodafone reserves right to walk away from Hutchison Essar deal

The Irish Times reports that Lighthouse and yq? International, two of Ireland's largest mobile phone top-up vending machine groups, have merged. Read the full story on ENN.

The paper also says that Aer Lingus has blamed a glitch on its website for a EUR30 rise in "sale" fares to New York on Tuesday morning. Fares to New York increased from EUR159 one-way, excluding taxes, charges and fuel surcharge, to EUR189 for a time, just as the airline was beginning a sales promotion and hours after it reduced its long-haul fuel surcharge by EUR10. An Aer Lingus spokesman said anyone who booked at the inflated EUR189 fare would get a refund.

The Irish Independent says that rumours are growing that BT Ireland's parent company will conduct a review of its Irish business. BT Ireland has amassed losses of almost EUR1 billion since entering the Irish market, according to figures filed with the Companies Office. Sources close to the firm said that BT Ireland is over-staffed and is likely to reconsider its position in relation to residential telecoms services, including fixed-line telephony and broadband services. Market commentators said that if BT decided to pull out of the residential market it would be a blow to Ireland's telecoms industry.

The paper also notes that search giant Google has lost a copyright lawsuit to Belgian newspapers, as reported on ENN on Tuesday.

The Irish Examiner says that expensive new technology -- and not an ageing population -- is the greatest factor in determining whether a country can afford decent health services, according to a major new report. The study was drawn up over the past year by an international team of specialists under the chairmanship of former European Parliament president Pat Cox. "New technology, including new forms of drugs, will be the main increased cost facing Europe's healthcare services in the future," said Cox. As a result, every country should have a Health Technology Assessment Unit to measure the link between actual healthcare needs and innovation, he said.

According to the Financial Times, Vodafone has reserved the right to walk away from its planned purchase of a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, India's fourth-largest mobile operator, if litigation seeking to thwart the deal is launched. A document filed with regulators by Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited, the company that has agreed to sell its stake in Hutchison Essar to Vodafone, reveals how Vodafone would delay completion of the deal, or even abandon it, if legal action was launched. People familiar with the matter noted that Essar, an Indian conglomerate that owns 33 percent of Hutchison Essar, has been threatening legal action to enforce what it claims is a right of first refusal.

The paper also reports that Sony is to cut its investment in semiconductors "significantly" over the next three years in an effort to restore the unit to profitability after a large investment in the "cell" chip that powers the PlayStation 3 games console. Analysts said the move takes Sony a step closer to becoming a "fab-less" chip designer that carries out research and development in-house but outsources manufacturing to partner companies.

The Wall Street Journal reports that IBM is claiming a breakthrough in developing circuitry to store data on future microprocessor chips. The computer giant said its approach -- based on exploiting the most widely used memory technology in a new way -- could triple the data stored on a typical microprocessor with a resulting doubling of computing performance. Using a manufacturing technology called silicon-on-insulator, the company has developed unusually fast DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) circuitry.