Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 471
25-06-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Broadband policy lacks sucker punch | Apple joy as Jobs returns to core
Eircom bidding race close to finishing line
The bidding race for Eircom threw up an interesting twist this week with the news that the Eircom Share Ownership Trust (ESOT), which owns 35 percent of the telco, put its weight behind one of the bidders, namely Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT). Eircom's Australian owner, Eircom Holdings, is not best pleased by the ESOT's move, saying it could spook other potential investors. Indeed, that seems to be the case, with reports claiming that Irish telco exec Sean Melly is believed to be preparing to withdraw his interest in Eircom following the ESOT decision. Likewise, equity group Arcapita is also rumoured to have signalled that it is withdrawing from the race. Reports suggest that STT is poised to put in a EUR100 million bid for Eircom, which has debts just shy of EUR4 billion. STT is owned by Temasek, the Singapore state investment company. The acquisition of Eircom would be its first significant purchase outside Asia in several years. STT is expected to table a bid this week. The deadline for bids is 30 June. If Eircom is sold, it would mark the sixth change of hands at the telecoms firm in the 10 years since the Government privatised it in 1999.
Broadband policy lacks sucker punch
Communications Minister Eamon Ryan this week revealed the Government's Next-Generation Broadband policy paper. The commitments in the paper were by and large unremarkable. The minister has pledged that Ireland's broadband speeds will equal, or exceed, those of comparable EU states by 2012 -- critics would argue that we should meet average EU broadband speeds now. Overall, the paper centres around four key points of strategy: the promotion of private sector investment in next-gen broadband, an "optimal" regulatory framework, an "innovative" radio spectrum policy, and "targeted" government actions "where necessary". The paper places the rollout of next-generation broadband firmly in the hands of the private sector, something which could prove tricky in the current economic environment. Industry group ALTO broadly welcomed the paper while at the same time calling it a lost opportunity. "We feel that this is a missed opportunity by the minister to commit to using his powers to set definite timelines and policy direction for ComReg so that the market is more successfully regulated. The now imperative investment by alternative telcos in next generation networks will not come about until the market is more conducive to fairer competition," said Ronan Lupton, chairperson of ALTO. Also outlined in the report is the Broadband for Schools project, which was announced last year to provide 100Mbps broadband to schools around the country. The minister has confirmed that 78 schools are currently taking part in a pilot project. He did not indicate any deadlines for the project, nor did he say when the rest of the nation's schools would come on board. Minister Ryan also said that the "one-stop-shop" initiative, whereby service providers are given access to State-owned ducting infrastructure, is currently underway. Recent figures have indicated that broadband adoption is picking up; however, what's also clear is that there's still a long way to go in getting Ireland up to speed on broadband. Minister Ryan has pledged broadband for all by the end of 2010 -- a slight shift from his commitment last year for universal broadband by early 2010. Many industry observers would be, understandably, dubious about that target.
Apple joy as Jobs returns to core
Apple execs and shareholders had cause for celebration this week as Chief Executive Steve Jobs returned to work following his six-month medical leave of absence. Last weekend reports emerged that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant two months ago. Traditionally, Apple has remained tight-lipped on Jobs' medical details, which has left investors slightly skittish about the company's future plans. They can rest easy for now though as Jobs steps back into the job. News of Jobs' return came as the CEO released a statement about the latest version of the iPhone, which no doubt added to the jubilant mood at Apple. In the first three days following its launch on 19 June, the iPhone 3G S sold over 1 million units. The mobile handset went on sale in the US and seven other countries around the world, and has broken the iPhone 3G's record of being the most successful version of the device to date. "Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning," said Jobs in a written statement. With just under 20 million iPhones sold globally to date, looks like Apple is winning too.
Intel and Nokia connect
A broad alliance struck between chip giant Intel and mobile giant Nokia could be the boost Intel needs to make its mark on the mobile market. To date, Intel has been unsuccessful in breaking into the lucrative mobile phone market; in 2006 now boss Paul Otellini sold the firm's mobile chip business to Marvell Technology. While this agreement with Nokia is short on details, with the pair divulging only that they will collaborate on developing designs for new types of mobile gadgets and the chips to be used in them, it does point to a growing closeness between the pair that could eventually lead to Intel supplying Nokia with chips for its mobile devices. Nokia currently gets the majority of its mobile chips from Texas Instruments. Intel has been moving towards developing smaller chips such as its Atom processor, which are capable of being used for the immensely popular netbooks. A version of the Atom, with lower power consumption, is expected to be used in devices developed by LG Electronics in the near future. The mobile market is a potentially lucrative hunting ground for Intel; around a billion mobile phones are sold each year globally, compared to hundreds of millions of PCs. General consensus is that this alliance with Nokia is a step in the right direction for Intel, but that it could be some years yet before the chip giant makes its presence felt in this market.
Twitter targeted by scammers
Like Facebook recently, the poisoned chalice of popularity is now affecting micro-blogging phenomenon Twitter. Rapid escalation in user figures means only one thing to fraudsters: a higher probability that more people will fall for their scams. This week, researchers at Symantec outlined a new spammed malware attack on Twitter, which purports to be an invitation to join Twitter. The message -- 'Your friend has invited you to Twitter' -- asks the recipient to open an attachment called 'InvitationCard.zip', which when opened unleashes a malicious worm that attempts to send out mass spam from the user's PC. Another security firm, ESET, warned about scammers who are baiting Twits with links to porn and, ironically enough, anti-virus software. Those who follow these links are then attacked with malicious code. Finally, also this week, an automated Twitter feed set up by venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki, who has 139,000 followers on the site, advertised a "free sex tape video" of 'Gossip Girl' star Leighton Meester with an accompanying link. Those clicking to download a codec to view the video ended up downloading a Trojan called OSX/Jahlav-C for the Mac OS. Apparently, this malware was also being spread by other less high-profile accounts.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 