NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 1 March
01-03-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
T-Mobile, Orange deal wins EU approval | Eircom to seek more job cuts: report
Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom have won EU regulatory approval for the merger of their mobile units, T-Mobile and Orange. In November, the companies said the newly merged entity would have a market share of 37 percent. "The decision is conditional upon the amendment of an existing network sharing agreement with Hutchison 3G UK, to ensure that there remain sufficient competitors in the market," said the European Commission. The EU also said that the two companies will be obliged to sell one-quarter of the combined spectrum of the merging units in the 1800 MHz band. On the back of these concessions, British regulators have withdrawn their request to the EU Commission to review the merger.
US pharma company Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) is now beginning to recruit 50 people, after announcing plans to establish a new research facility in Athlone in late 2008. The company plans to create a total of 250 jobs, including jobs for PhD scientists, laboratory staff and clinical development professionals. Taoiseach Brian Cowen formally opened the new IDA-supported premises at Garrycastle Business and Technology Park on Monday. PPD is investing up to EUR14 million in the new facility, supported by the Irish government with the aid of IDA Ireland.
Eircom senior management are working on a new business plan that could seek a further 1,500 voluntary redundancies, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post. The paper says the plan, which is being prepared for shareholders, is being spearheaded by Chief Executive Paul Donovan and will likely be completed by the end of April. It is understood that, while the plan has not yet been finalised, it envisages headcount reductions in the order of 1,500 staff, including a possible 25 percent reduction in the number of managers.
UK e-mail management firm Mimecast has signed a deal with mobile operator O2 Ireland. The partnership will allow O2 to re-sell Mimecast's cloud-based e-mail management services to business customers. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Irish mobile phone distributor CTC has announced that it is distributing two new environmentally-friendly phone products. Manufactured in Sligo, the Jivo Leaf is a protective covering for the iPhone that biodegrades in one to five years, as compared to a normal silicone iPhone case which can take up to five decades to biodegrade. The Jivo Leaf, announced by Jivo at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will be available in O2 stores from 1 March. CTC will also start distributing a solar energy hands-free mobile phone car kit that can speak the name of the person calling. The LG HFB-510 car kit will be available in O2 stores in March.
Interactive whiteboard maker Promethean, which is headquartered in the UK but has an office in Ireland, has won a multi-million-euro contract to install 4,550 whiteboards in 1,900 schools in Spain. An exact figure for the deal was not available. Promethean said the government project to roll out interactive whiteboards in schools around Andalucia is being funded through the Escuela ICT 2.0 programme, one of a number of financial stimulus packages targeted at education technology currently being implemented across the EU.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 