IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 17 November
17-11-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Openhydro raises EUR30m | INTO criticises school laptop plan
The Irish Times says that Caribbean mobile group Digicel made a profit of USD364 million in the half-year to the end of September. Read more on this story on ENN.
The paper also reports that Irish green energy firm Openhydro has installed one of the first tidal energy generators of its kind off the Canadian coast and is close to finishing a EUR30 million fundraising round. The turbine, installed in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, eastern Canada, is generating one megawatt of power, enough to supply electricity to about 1,000 households. Openhydro, based in Co Louth, began raising EUR30 million, mainly from existing backers, in early October. It is understood it will complete the fundraising early next year. The money will be spent on moving the company from the development stage to a point where it is operating commercially.
The same paper says that every classroom in the country is to get a teaching laptop, software and a digital projector as part of a new investment in "smart schools". Read more on this story as reported by ENN on Monday.
Reporting on the same story, the Irish Examiner says that the investment has been likened to supplying cars without roads because of inadequate internet access in schools. Irish National Teachers' Organisation incoming general secretary Sheila Nunan said the investment will just cover the cost of a laptop and projector. "Broadband connectivity and teacher training will have to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Putting a laptop into a school with no broadband is the same as giving someone a car without any roads," she said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Cisco Systems has raised its cash bid for Norway's Tandberg to NOK19 billion (USD3.39 billion) and said its offer was final. Cisco said it would withdraw the offer if it doesn't achieve the desired 90 percent level of acceptance. The network equipment maker increased its bid for the video-conferencing equipment firm to NOK170 a share from NOK153.50 a share and extended the offer period to 1 December.
The paper also notes that chip giant Intel's board has approved a 12.5 percent dividend increase, an indication that tech firms are growing more hopeful about economic recovery. The increase puts the chip firm's quarterly dividend at USD0.1575 a share and marks the first change to the dividend since the second quarter of 2008. Intel, which began issuing dividends in 1992, has boosted its payout 14 times since then. "The dividend increase is another sign of our confidence in business prospects going forward," said Intel CEO Paul Otellini.
The Financial Times reports that Cable & Wireless plans to raise STG200 million in debt fundraising for its UK business as it prepares to spin off the subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange in March next year. The UK telco said it would put STG1.1 billion of new financing and cash into both its UK and international businesses, as it prepares to demerge its two main businesses, CWI and Worldwide. C&W originally planned to demerge the businesses a year ago but delayed the plans, partly because of the difficulty of arranging debt facilities for the UK business at the height of the credit crunch.
The paper also says that the global mobile phone industry is trying to rein in the rapid worldwide spread of illegitimate handsets by introducing a stricter regime for the allocation of handset identification numbers. The move comes as unlicensed Chinese handset manufacturers have started flooding the world market with exports in a competitive threat to global mobile phone brands. The GSM Association has started charging handset makers for international mobile equipment identity, or IMEI, numbers. It hopes to discourage illegal trade in the numbers and thus make it harder for illegitimate manufacturers to get their hands on them.
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