ROUNDUPS
In the papers 19 February
19-02-2003
by John Cradden
Mary Mangan to challenge decision to make her redundant from Ireland.com | BT threatened with industrial action over plans to transfer jobs to India
The Irish Independent reports that the chief operating officer of Ireland.com, a subsidiary of Irish Times Ltd, is challenging a decision to make her redundant, the High Court heard yesterday. Mr Justice Vivian Lavan gave Mary Mangan permission to inform the Irish Times that she intends to apply next Monday for an injunction to restrain the company from taking any further steps to terminate her employment.
The paper also reports that the former Department of Communications secretary general yesterday told the Moriarty Tribunal he was extremely surprised when the share configuration of the Esat Digifone consortium changed before the issue of the second mobile phone licence. John Loughrey, who is now retired, said the issue has raised a lot of media attention. He wanted the original shareholding requirement of 40 percent to Norwegian company Telenor, along with 40 percent to Denis O'Brien's Communicorp and 20 percent to institutional investors, to remain until the project was up and running.
The same paper reports that BT was threatened on Tuesday with industrial action over plans to "export" the jobs of 700 directory inquiry operators to India. The UK's Communication Workers Union said it believed the first wave of job cuts would start in April, followed by further losses later in the year. BT said it was considering whether to establish centres in India but had not made a final decision.
The Irish Times reports that the Irish Takeover Panel has ruled that the actions of Alphyra management have not frustrated rival offers for the company. In a statement, the Rendina MBO vehicle said: "Rendina believes that as the matter has now been resolved, shareholders can focus on considering the increased cash offer of EUR2.70 per share."
The paper also reports that a computerised system for the Irish Blood Transfusion Service is three years late and will cost twice as much as expected, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General. The new computer system for controlling blood banking activities, called the Progresa Project, was budgeted at EUR4.26 million and was due to be implemented by late 1999. However, the current final cost of the project is a projected EUR9.04 million, and the scheme is not now expected to be fully implemented until May of this year.
The Financial Times reports that European regulators are expected to approve IBM's takeover of US software group Rational, paving the way for completion of the USD2.1 billion deal. The cash bid, cleared by US antitrust regulators, would bolster IBM in its battle with Microsoft, to be leader of the next generation of web-based software and services.
The paper also reports that Madrid court rejected a class action lawsuit against Cesar Alierta, chairman of Telefonica, Spain's largest company. The ruling, based on a controversial definition of insider trading, is fuelling a debate on what constitutes insider deals in Spain and how to apply the 1996 law that prohibits them. So far, Spanish judges have never brought an insider trading case to trial.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Micron Technology, the world's second-largest computer memory chip-maker, announced on Tuesday that it is laying off 10 percent of its world-wide labour force of over 18,000. It is the first layoff the Boise, Idaho-based company has imposed since 1985, seven years after it was founded.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 