IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 17 December
17-12-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
DCC to launch TrafficNav system | New Eircom owner warns of 'challenges'
The Irish Times says that the Institutes of Technology (ITs) have become a major contributor to Ireland's efforts to deliver a smart economy via research, and the 13 ITs outside Dublin now account for 20 percent of State spending on scientific research. The rapid development of research capacity within the IT sector was highlighted at the launch of the first Institutes of Technology Research and Innovations Yearbook. The document provides details on research by specific ITs and individual scientists within each IT.
The paper also says that Dublin City Council is to launch a new system of live traffic information on road closures, crashes and weather conditions, to be broadcast direct to satnav systems. Hungarian firm TrafficNav said its service would be available on new Map Master satnav systems, as well as on products from one other "big name", which it could not identify for contractual reasons. To access the system, most current holders of satnavs will have to ensure their device is enabled to receive an FM broadcast of a Traffic Message Channel (TMC). If the device is not TMC-enabled, a piece of additional hardware can be purchased to upgrade it. Also, current satnav users will have to install the latest maps of Dublin, which must include the new Samuel Beckett bridge.
The paper also reports that Microsoft has settled the European Commission's case over the dominance of its web browser, Internet Explorer. Read more on this story on ENN.
The same paper notes that the US Federal Trade Commission is suing Intel, accusing the chipmaker of abusing its dominant market position. Read more on ENN.
The Irish Examiner says that the takeover of Eircom by STT Communications has been formally approved by the Federal Court of Australia, as reported by ENN on Wednesday.
Reporting on the same story, the Irish Independent says STT has warned that Eircom faces "numerous challenges" including legacy infrastructure, a high debt burden and competition. STT chief executive Theng Kiat Lee said in a statement that his firm plans to be a "long-term investor" in Eircom and to build a "sustainable business" in Ireland. "In the new year, ST Telemedia will be working closely with the management and employees of Eircom to determine a sound vision and strategy for the future, with a strong focus on meeting customer requirements, upgrading legacy infrastructure and generating shareholder returns over the long run," said Lee.
The Financial Times reports that Russian group Digital Sky Technologies is leading a USD180 million investment in Zynga, the developer of the 'Farmville' game, which has more than 69 million players on Facebook. DST is already an investor in Facebook. DST is contributing the majority of Zynga's new funds, alongside investors Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global and Institutional Ventures Partners.
The paper also reports that France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are hoping that regulators in Brussels rather than in London will scrutinise the proposed merger of their UK mobile phone businesses. Regulatory scrutiny will begin in Brussels; the European Commission has jurisdiction over the case because two-thirds of the turnover of France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom is outside the UK. UK consumer organisation Which? is calling for British authorities to investigate, however, as the merger of Orange and T-Mobile would create the UK's largest mobile operator. The telecoms groups hope that an inquiry by the European Commission would be shorter than one by UK competition authorities.
The paper also says that Google is facing a fresh hurdle to its digital books project as a Chinese court prepares to hear a case brought against the internet giant by a Chinese novelist for scanning her works. Mian Mian is suing Google for alleged copyright infringement. The author wants Google to apologise for scanning part of her works, to delete the scanned content from its digital library and pay her USD8,800 in compensation. Google says it has taken the author's book offline and that it was "confident of a favourable outcome in this case".
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