For the record 6 June

06-06-2008

by Emmet Ryan

Fastcom unveils new voice service | SFI chair receives honorary doctorate

Fastcom Broadband has launched its new Fastcom Voice service, which is aimed at customers across Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal. The new Fastcom Voice packages, starting from just EUR9.99, offer free calls to other Fastcom Voice users, a free number with a local area code and hundreds of minutes of free calls to Ireland and worldwide.

The chairperson of Science Foundation Ireland, Prof Patrick Fottrell, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from University College Cork. Prof Fottrell has been recognised by UCC for his significant contribution to academia, and was bestowed with a degree of Doctor of Science at a special conferring ceremony in the college.

The launch of its 3G iPhone provides Apple with an opportunity to have a significant impact on the mobile TV market, according to a report from Analysys Mason. "The iPhone could become the mobile video delivery device of choice for many consumers, by providing a compelling mobile TV and video proposition before mobile broadcasting networks, such as DVB-H become widely available," said Mark Heath, co-author of the new Analysys Mason report 'iPhone Shows the Way for Mobile TV'.

Wexford firm Sunrise Industries has launched a new service called UBCAM, a web facility for live online broadcasts from 3G mobile phones or PCs. UBCAM users or broadcasters have the option of charging viewers to watch their broadcasts, via PayPal. The broadcaster sets the pricing rate. Footage can be broadcast live on UBCAM, or on a user's blog, Bebo or Facebook page, or archived for viewing at a later date.

Stakeholders in digital marketing and media are being asked to commit to joining the new Irish branch of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) over the next few weeks. IAB is a global trade association for digital and interactive marketing, operating in 40 countries worldwide with over 4,500 company members.

ComReg has announced the outcome of the 26GHz National Block Licences award process. A total of 13 national channels have been licensed to five different bidders to support national point-to-point and point-to-multipoint applications. Each licence will run for 10 years and will enable operators to upgrade the backbone of existing and future networks to provide products and services to consumers. BT Ireland has been awarded two national point-to-point channels, Digiweb has been awarded one national point-to-multipoint channel, while Irish Broadband has been awarded one national point-to-point channel. Telefonica O2 Ireland has been awarded three national point-to-point channels and two national point-to-multipoint channels while Vodafone Ireland has been awarded four national point-to-point channels.