NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 8 May
08-05-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Carphone buys Tiscali UK ops | ComReg proposes LLU price cut
Carphone Warehouse has bought the UK operations of troubled Italian broadband provider Tiscali for STG236 million. Carphone said the deal will give it a quarter of the UK's residential broadband market with a combined total of 4.25 million broadband customers. Carphone said it hopes to complete the deal by this summer, and aims to transfer Tiscali broadband customers to its billing system within two years. Recently Carphone announced that it was to split its retail operations from its TalkTalk broadband business.
Communications regulator ComReg has launched a consultation on a proposal to reduce the price of the key local loop unbundling (LLU) product by over 25 percent. The new proposed price would be EUR12.18, down from its current level of EUR16.43. "ComReg believes that the successful implementation of these proposals will lead to greater competition and, ultimately, consumer benefits through increased choice and lower prices. The purpose of the consultation process launched today is to outline our proposal to reduce the price of the key LLU product and ensure that the views of all stakeholders are considered before a final decision is taken," said ComReg chairperson John Doherty. BT CEO Chris Clark has welcomed the proposed price reduction.
AIB has warned its online banking customers to be wary of the growing threat of phishing scams. The bank said the number of phishing attacks on AIB during April was more than those recorded for the whole year of 2008. "Although more of our customers are now aware of phishing, in recent months the number of attacks reported and the volume of e-mail addresses being targeted, in particular work e-mail addresses, has increased significantly," said Sean Jevens, head of eChannel Development, AIB. AIB said that 570,000 of its customers now regularly bank online, up 18 percent year-on-year. The number of transactions conducted online during 2008 jumped 27 percent on the previous year.
IBM is working in conjunction with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) to find treatments for drug-resistant influenza strains and new strains, such as such as H1N1 (swine flu). Researchers at the university will use IBM's World Community Grid, a virtual supercomputer, to identify the chemical compounds most likely to stop the spread of the influenza viruses and begin testing these under laboratory conditions within the next month. The joint project, "Influenza Antiviral Drug Search", uses computer power from over 1 million devices registered by hundreds of thousands of individuals who donate their unused computer time for humanitarian and medical research.
Globalisation and software testing firm Lionbridge Technologies has posted first-quarter revenue of USD88.4 million, down 24.5 percent from the first quarter of 2008. The drop is blamed primarily on project delays from certain clients and the weaker euro as compared to the US dollar. GAAP net loss for the quarter was USD5.1 million or USD0.09 per share, compared to a USD4.4 million loss, or USD0.08 per share, in the same period in 2008.
The Business Software Alliance has announced the launch of an updated guide to help Irish businesses understand the financial and operational benefits of using Software Asset Management (SAM). The guide aims to provide firms with advice on how to drive down IT costs, increase productivity and efficiency, limit risks associated with installing unlicensed software, and ensuring compliance. The guide contains sections explaining what a software licence is, the different types of licences, how to manage software, and the audit process, as well as the benefits of compliance and the risks associated with under-licensing.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 