IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 19 November
19-11-2007
by Ciara O'Brien
France Telecom to take stake in Telkom Kenya | Emuse lands contract with ITV
The Irish Independent says that shoppers can save themselves hundreds of euros by shopping online this Christmas -- but it pays to compare prices carefully. A survey by the newspaper shows that you could save yourself as much as EUR340 on a big-ticket item such as a widescreen plasma TV, and for smaller items like computer games and CDs, savings are also substantial.
The Financial Times reports that valuable radio spectrum used mainly by broadcasters is to be opened up to broadband services from mobile operators under a new UN agreement. For the first time, the decision will provide a common chunk of spectrum for mobile broadband services globally, boosting the market for new wireless technologies. Under the deal, the Americas and much of Asia will open up the 698-806 Megahertz band to mobile wireless broadband services between now and 2015, while in Europe, Africa and the Middle East only the 790-862 Megahertz band will be available for mobile wireless broadband and not before 2015.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Xerox is to announce that it is resuming payment of quarterly cash dividends for the first time in six years. Xerox is expected to declare a dividend of USD0.0425 a share, payable 31 January for shareholders of record on 31 December. The new dividend will be slightly less than the USD0.05 quarterly dividend Xerox last paid in 2001. That dividend had been cut from USD0.20 a share the year before as Xerox struggled to deal with an accounting scandal, bloated costs and staggering debt.
The paper also says that a consortium led by France Telecom has won an auction for a 51 percent stake in Telkom Kenya with a USD390 million bid. The investment, which is expected to be made by year end, illustrates France Telecom's strategy of pursuing markets outside of Western Europe -- and sets it up for a fight for market share with Vodafone, which has a 40 percent stake in Kenya's largest mobile operator, Safaricom.
The same paper notes that Cisco Systems' board has authorised as much as USD10 billion in additional stock repurchases. The decision increases the total authorised amount under the company's repurchase program to USD62 billion. The company has about 6.1 billion shares outstanding.
The Sunday Tribune reports on a new website that is helping the romantically challenged (or the unimaginative) to pop the question. The website, willyoumarryme.ie, lists proposal ideas along with restaurants, jewellers, florists and hotels around Ireland.
Meanwhile, the paper reports that other couples are finding a technical hitch has put a spanner in the works for their wedding plans. The new civil ceremony regulations, which came into effect this month, have effectively excluded private registrars in remote areas from the centralised computer system that will issue the marriage registration form. As these registrars are not employees of the HSE, they do not have access to the new system, for security reasons.
The same newspaper writes about a Parnell Square internet cafe that reported a customer for downloading illegal material from the internet. Gardai were called in after the cafe's owner discovered someone had accessed child pornography using his machines, and after identifying the customer in question, Gardai questioned the man after he came back to the cafe. The man confessed to viewing the material and claimed he had an addiction to seeking out child porn online.
The paper goes on to report that computerised property transactions could be up to 10 years away. The movement of the system to a fully computerised one is expected to help clamp down on cases such as those of Michael Lynn and Thomas Byrne, where the solicitors gave false undertakings on their own behalf to get substantial mortgages.
The Sunday Times reports on a new music entrepreneurship and social networking firm, Blastbeat, which aims to combine what it calls "music enterprise training" with the Blastspace social networking website. The enterprise targets 14 to 24 year olds and is designed to show them how to run businesses, use the internet to their advantage, and organise battle of the bands events.
The Sunday Independent reports on a lucrative new contract for Irish firm Emuse, which involves supplying interactive services to ITV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Trinny & Susannah: Undress the Nation, Coronation Street and Emmerdale. The company has already worked with the TV station on several shows in the past couple of years, but this new contract is a long-term, exclusive deal.
The Sunday Business Post quotes Pat McArdle, Ulster Bank's chief economist, as describing the tax take through the Revenue Online Service (ROS) as "disappointing". Some 99,000 people filed their tax returns online this year, a 14 percent rise on 2006, while the amount collected increased 3.6 percent to EUR2.28 billion. This compares to a growth of 57 percent in receipts in 2006, and a 29 percent increase in the number making payments through ROS.
The same paper says the iPhone is unlikely to be available in Ireland this Christmas, meaning a lot of disappointed phone fans this holiday season. Although it was launched in early November in the UK, with O2 as the official network, there is still speculation over who will win the contract for Ireland.
The Sunday Business Post also reports that the now-defunct Motorola plant in Cork made a profit of EUR4.6 million last year, with turnover of EUR57 million. The plant closed earlier this year, making 330 people redundant.
According to the same paper, Irish firm Realex Payments is set to expand into Britain, opening a new office in London as part of its bid to boost its size. It also plans to take on an extra 50 staff, to double its size. Realex is currently developing new software that will give businesses the ability to process both debit and credit card payments through the one site, and cheque processing systems.
The paper also reports that a new Irish startup is tapping into the growing concern for green technology, promising to reduce businesses' energy costs through energy management. Wirelite Sensors has teamed up with US based Elutions to offer its range of energy management solutions to Irish customers, which it says will deliver significant savings to Irish consumer.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 