NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 25 November
25-11-2009
by Emmet Cole
Eircom sees revenue, profits dip | Tanaiste champions R&D
Eircom has posted quarterly revenue of EUR468 million down 9 percent from the year-ago period, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) came in slightly lower (less than 1 percent) than the year-ago quarter at USD168 million. CEO Paul Donovan said the environment in Ireland was challenging for the telco from an "economic, competitive and regulatory perspective". The group's operating costs were cut by 11 percent, reflecting the firm's reduced labour costs and other cost cutting initiatives. Meanwhile, Meteor saw its revenues decline by 6 percent to EUR119 million. Falling ARPU (average revenue per user) was cited as the main cause. The mobile operator also recruited 20,000 new customers during the quarter. Meteor now 1,046,000 customers, while DSL subscriptions stood at 673,000 at the end of September.
Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Mary Coughlan launched the CSET Commercialisation Forum in Dublin on Wednesday. The Forum is designed to share best practice on commercialisation between the 10 Science Foundation Ireland funded Centres of Science Engineering and Technology (CSETs). It is hoped that the forum will help scientists and researchers translate their work into commercial reality. Coughlan highlighted the benefits of investment in R&D at the event, saying: "The benefit of effective R&D investment is new companies, jobs and further investments by industry." Coughlan estimates that industry investment in SFI research centre partnerships has reached more than EUR70 million so far. The Tanaiste also emphasised the importance of research centres and industry working together: "The focus on collaboration with industry is critical to deriving value from our investment in research. In addition to the direct engagement in specific projects, the interaction of graduate students with industry enables them have a more active understanding of the commercial arena."
Separately, Coughlan welcomed the decision taken at the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg on Wednesday to rubber stamp Ireland's application under the European Globalisation Fund for redundant workers at Dell and ancillary companies. The European Commission had already approved the Irish application in September. The EGF funding is earmarked for retraining, upskilling and providing educational and entrepreneurial supports for almost 2,500 redundant workers in the mid west region.
Business software company Mamut Software has made a number of its products available to Irish customers for purchase over the internet on a subscription pay-as-you-go pricing model, following an agreement with The Business Software Centre (TBSC), a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) partner. The agreement facilitates the download of Mamut software products through TBSC's Rentsoft service. Products including Mamut Enterprise, Mamut Accounting, Mamut Office and Mamut CRM & Sales Start will be offered on a subscription basis through Rentsoft and are immediately available to Irish customers. Once downloaded, the products will be fully functional as long as the customer maintains the monthly subscription payments. Subscription services are offered on a pay-as-you-go basis and include free usage for the first month. After that, prices start at EUR16.96 per month.
A new mobile and online platform, txtajob.ie which provides job seekers with relevant job vacancy alerts via mobile phone launched on Wednesday. Txtajob.ie can be used for free by employers and recruitment agencies to provide job seekers with job alerts. The service aims to help employers manage the cost of searching for and recruiting new employees to fill vacancies. Job seekers can select one or several job categories in which they will receive job alerts of relevant positions to their mobile phone. Job seekers can also upload their CV to txtajob.ie and manage their profile online. While there is no charge to employers or recruitment agencies for using the service, job seekers are charged EUR1 per alert -- up to a limit of EUR30 each month, after which further alerts are free.
Deloitte's 2009 Technology Fast 500 for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) has given Irish company Daft Media (Ireland's 2009 Fast 50 winner) a top 10 ranking. Daft Media occupies 8th position with a growth rate of 8,453 percent over the last five years. In all, 18 companies from the Republic of Ireland (and four from Northern Ireland) are on this year's Fast 500 list. Lincor Solutions, who achieved second position in the Irish Fast 50, achieved position 17 on the EMEA ranking. Meanwhile, SLA Mobile, Northern Ireland's highest ranking company in the Irish Fast 50 in third place, ranked 29th in the EMEA Fast 500. The average five-year revenue growth in this year's Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking is 24,068 percent for the top five companies and 1,470 percent for the top 500. Both of these figures are higher than last year, when average five-year revenue growth was 17,375 percent for the top five and 1,297 percent for the top 500.
Financial governance, transaction risk management, and compliance company Trintech Group, which has an office in Dublin, has posted revenues of USD10 million for the third quarter ended 31 October 2009, down 1 percent from the year-ago quarter. The firm also recorded net profits for the quarter of USD512,000, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) more than doubled to USD1.4 million.
Conor Lenihan Minister for Science, Technology & Innovation announced the winners of the 2009 Science Foundation Ireland/Dell Young Women in Engineering Scholarship Awards on Wednesday. Students from Dublin (4), Cork (2), Tipperary, Donegal, Laois and Kildare picked up awards, which include an annual award of EUR2,000, a Dell notebook computer, and the assistance and support of a research active mentor throughout their undergraduate career. Scholarship winners also get the chance to spend summer months in a research internship in a university or industry. This year SFI received 58 eligible applications compared to the 46 eligible applications received for the 2008 competition.
EMC Ireland, the Irish sales division of IT infrastructure company, EMC Corporation has announced the appointment of Gerry Murray as the new Public Sector Manager for the Irish market. Murray's responsibilities will include delivering EMC's products to the public sector in Ireland including Central Government, Local Government and State Agencies. Prior to joining EMC, Murray worked for seven years with the Morse Group as IBM Division Manager.
Google has apologised for allowing an "offensive" image of Michelle Obama, the US President's wife, to remain at the top of its image search rankings. Google placed a notice over the picture titled "Offensive Search Results", saying: "Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree." The company has not removed the image from its search facility, however, saying that it does not remove images because of complaints.
Tesco stores in the UK will begin stocking Apple's iPhone before Christmas, it was announced on Wednesday. The company also promised to bring "value" to the mobile phone market. Tesco, which is the UK's biggest retailer, will sell the Apple device through its network of 100 in-store phone shops and on its website. The iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS will be available to both pay-as-you-go customers and people willing to take out a long-term contract. Tesco already has 2 million mobile phone customers in the UK. Orange started selling the iPhone in the UK earlier this month, ending O2's exclusive right to sell on the device. Vodafone UK is expected to start selling iPhone to its customers in mid-January.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 