For the record 4 May

04-05-2007

by Maxim Kelly

Eircom reshuffles top executives | Warm weather causes tourism website spike

The BBC has launched its 24-hour English language World Service on Korea's TU Media network. The Beeb said it was the first international radio channel to become available round-the-clock on the world's first S-DMB (Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) platform.

Dublin-based Frontline, an organisation pledged to serve "human rights defenders around the world", has published a guide to digital security and privacy for activists. Digital Security & Privacy for Human Rights Defenders was launched at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference held in Montreal. "The purpose of the manual is to educate human rights defenders and provide them with solutions to privacy and security issues that arise through the use of computers and the web," said Dmitri Vitaliev, communications consultant and author of the book. "Governments around the world, with the assistance of several global IT firms, are restricting freedom of expression, by monitoring chat rooms and blogs; by introducing search engine limitations; and by persecuting people for sharing information on the internet," he claimed.

Telecommunications player Eircom has made several executive level changes. Optus Communications founder Peter O'Connell has been appointed director of corporate strategy and regulation, and has been invited to join the company's board. In a separate move, the chief executive of Eircom's mobile division, Meteor -- Robert Haulbrook -- has been appointed as chairman of Meteor. Eircom said he will take up his new role with immediate effect and will step aside to be replaced by former chief operations officer Larry Smith. In a non-executive appointment, Eircom has also recruited John Quinn, former head of strategic development at Digiweb. Quinn has been appointed head of business management on Eircom's broadband team.

Telecommunications lobby group Ireland Offline has issued a statement congratulating communications regulator ComReg for its work on the LLU process necessary for increasing competition in the Irish broadband market. ComReg released a report on the process on Thursday. "This is a very positive move from ComReg and we congratulate them on their very hard work to achieve this. ComReg made large in-roads to make LLU workable in the past 12 months and the latest news is the most significant so far. This resolution is a major boost for broadband in Ireland."

Online publisher CNET Networks has joined forces with New Media discussion site Chinwag Live. Chinwag provides internet-based community forums, websites, e-mail newsletters and live events for online media and the digital marketing industry. CNET publishes British technology newswires Silicon.com and ZDnet.co.uk. "We're pleased to be supporting the Chinwag Live events and podcasts as they provide a unique insight into how leading practitioners are overcoming the challenges of digital content, business and marketing, and as such are a great complement to our content and our mission," said CNET.

Failte Ireland's website DiscoverIreland.ie has experienced a 75 percent increase in user figures in the run up to the May Bank holiday, according to the tourism agency. "Kilkenny once again tops the poll as the most searched for location closely followed by Galway, which is proving popular this May Bank Holiday. The high interest in Galway indicates that consumers are aware that Galway is open for business and that it is safe to visit Galway for a break following recent water issues." The top activities searched for online were whale watching, music festivals, and walking trips.