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For the record 20 March
Thursday, March 20 2008
by The Register


BT, ALTO welcome ComReg line share consultation | Netlog
partners with Last.fm 

ALTO, the association of alternative telecoms
operators, has welcomed the publication of a consultation
document by ComReg on line share pricing.  The
consultation proposes a reduction in the price of sharing a
line for broadband in the exchange by 65 percent -- a drop
from EUR8.41 to EUR2.94. It is part of a wider review of the
local loop unbundling (LLU) market and the prices proposed
are interim pending the result of the overall review.
Speaking on Thursday, Liam O'Halloran, ALTO's chairman, said
the organisation supported ComReg's action. "In the last
few months alternative operators have announced a range of
products and investments to provide better broadband services
to customers and the ComReg announcement should help this
even further," he said.



Meanwhile BT Ireland also welcomed the publication of
the ComReg document, with CEO Chris Clark stating on Thursday
that the consultation was "a step in the right direction"
to reduce the high price for LLU line share. "We also
welcome that a review of LLU pricing in general is underway
by ComReg and look to further significant reductions in full
unbundled LLU prices in the autumn to remove the barriers
restricting this market. Eircom prices such as the EUR47
penalty (on top of the cost) to move our own customers to LLU
is highly restrictive and is preventing mass migration to LLU
as happens in other countries," said Clark.



The Minister for Innovation Policy, Michael Ahern, said on
Thursday that the Government has invested EUR200 million
since the late 1990s in the Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) in Schools Programme. Ahern, who was
commenting  during a visit to Dunshaughlin Community
College where he launched '21st Century Learning day', also
said it was vital that Ireland continues to integrate the
concept of innovation into the school syllabus through
business, science and ICT teaching.



British Telecom is preparing to trial its free
'Avatalk' phone and texting service on Second Life
starting from next week. According to a Silicon.com report,
BT, which set up a private 'island' called Area 21 in Second
Life last year, is launching a pilot for the service from 26
March. It will enable users to make 10 free calls and send 10
SMS messages via their avatars. Avatalk uses BT's global IP
platform, Web21C, to carry calls and transmit SMS messages to
mobile networks.



Netlog, which claims to be one of Europe's biggest
social networking sites, with 33 million users, has announced
a partnership with Last.fm, which enables Netlog users
to add widgets to their profile pages. Using the widgets,
Netlog members will be able to access Last.fm's music library
directly from their profile page and will also be able to
listen to Last.fm Radio. 



Irish website Entertainment.ie has launched a new
mobile-friendly version of its site. The mobile site includes
the most popular sections on the regular website, including
cinema, TV, gig and event listings, movie trailers and
gossip.