NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 29 January
29-01-2009
by Bryan Collins
First Derivatives creates over 140 jobs in Newry | ICS Computing generates 50 jobs in Belfast
Financial technology company First Derivatives is to create 142 jobs in the North. The company provides consultancy and software services for financial institutions who want to analyse their exposure to debt. The firm already employs 130 staff at its Newry headquarters and says most of the new positions will be filled by locals. Of the new positions, 132 are consultancy posts while 10 are managerial. First Derivatives, which is listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges, has clients in London, New York, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philadelphia, Toronto, Stockholm and Dublin.
Software and services provider ICS Computing is to create 50 new jobs at Belfast headquarters, after winning three NHS contracts in the UK. The NHS contracts have a combined value of STG2.5 million and will see ICS providing payroll services to around 17,000 employees across two trusts. The payroll service solutions are due to go live in April and will be managed from ICS's Belfast-based headquarters. The company already employs over 250 people at its Belfast office and is shortlisted to provide payroll services to a further six NHS bodies across the UK.
ALTO, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators, has reacted to the agreement reached between Eircom and four major record labels -- EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal -- saying the alternative telecoms sector is "not party" to the deal. Under the so-called "three strikes and you're out" system Eircom has agreed to discontinue the broadband service of persistent illegal music downloaders. "As yesterday's agreement between Eircom and the record companies was a direct action against Eircom it is not enforceable on Ireland's other broadband providers. While we obviously do not condone illegal downloading or any illegality on or over the internet, we firmly disapprove of any draconian measures that would compromise the privacy, speed or services offered to broadband users. We do not need measures to further impede the development of next generation broadband in Ireland," said Ronan Lupton, Chairman of ALTO.
Software company OfficeMetrics has raised EUR1 million to develop its technical infrastructure. The investment round was led by AIB Seed Capital Fund and co-managed by the Dublin Business Innovation Centre. The investment round also included Enterprise Ireland and private investors. OfficeMetrics was established in 2006 by Jonathan Mulligan and Damien O'Brien and allows individuals and their employers to analyse productivity. The firm says the new funding will enable it to develop its secure hosting infrastructure and its global sales presence. Jonathan Mulligan, managing director of OfficeMetrics, said "even a 2 percent increase in productivity can enable a 50 person organisation to add EUR50,000 directly to the bottom line."
AirSpeed Telecom has been awarded a EUR100,000 contract to provide high bandwidth connectivity to Vista Primary Care. The telecommunications company will provide its services in Vista's Kildare-based primary care campus. AirSpeed Telecom's deal follows a recent contract with the National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS) to provide a back-up network for BreastCheck -- the National Breast Screening Programme. The telco recently invested EUR2.3 million into its network and claims it can provide an uncontended high bandwidth service of up to 800Mbps. AirSpeed Telecom was also recently awarded multiple lots of 26GHz spectrum licences from ComReg to increase capacity in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway for uncontended high bandwidth services.
Eastman Kodak is to cut 3,500 to 4,500 jobs worldwide. The photography company wants to shed 14 percent to 18 percent of its workforce, after posting a USD137 million fourth-quarter loss. Kodak's shares dropped USD1.48, or 21 percent, to USD5.59, after reaching a year low of USD5.40 earlier in the day on Thursday. The company's sales of digital and film-based photography products have fallen dramatically in recent months. Sales dropped 24 percent to USD2.43 billion from USD3.22 billion a year ago, while digital revenue fell 23 percent to USD1.78 billion and traditional film-based revenue tumbled 27 percent to USD652 million. Kodak's planned cuts will reduce its staff total to 19,900 and follows on the completion of a four-year worldwide restructuring programme, which saw the firm half its workforce.
The Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, published a consultation on the release of further spectrum in the 10.5GHz band for Fixed Wireless (FWALA) broadband services for home and business consumers. ComReg said fixed wireless broadband has over 107,000 customers and is a key driver in the take-up of broadband services in Ireland. The regulator wants to make additional spectrum available for FWALA licensing in the 10.5GHz band. ComReg also proposed making 154MHz of spectrum available between 10.000GHz – 10.154GHz. It is inviting interested parties to submit opinions on how this spectrum could be best employed.
Also on Thursday ComReg reduced the wholesale number porting charges for fixed and mobile operators by up to 90 percent. The revised porting fees will result in reductions of up to 90 percent for wholesale mobile number porting (MNP) charges and reductions of up to 70 percent for wholesale fixed number porting charges. ComReg said a mobile operator cannot charge in excess of EUR2.05 to another mobile operator when a customer moves and that a fixed operator cannot charge in excess of EUR4.02. The regulator also set out a number of other wholesale fixed number porting charges, including a maximum charge of EUR3.50 for Geographic Number Portability (GNP) in the context of Unbundled Local Metallic Path (ULMP) and a maximum charge of EUR5.74 for Non-Geographic Number Portability (NGNP).
Dublin-based Softworks, which provides workforce management solutions, has signed a contract with Canadian IT services provider Compugen. The deal will see Softworks implementing its Enterprise Workforce Management solution across all of Compugen's Canadian facilities. The solution will focus on the areas of time and attendance, employee training and certification, holiday tracking and absence management. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 