IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 13 May
13-05-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
11850 to close Dublin call centre | An Post launches mobile phone service
The Irish Times reports that Independent Senator David Norris has used Twitter to assure his followers he is not in a relationship with a woman. He tweeted in response to a Sunday newspaper headline he felt suggested his sexuality had changed. His tweet said: "Nonsense headline in Sunday Tabloid. No fear of me I am still with you [sic], guys, gals and gays. Rumours of marriage greatly exaggerated!"
The paper also says that seven of Ireland's biggest independent bookmakers have joined together to launch BetPack.com. BetPack has brought together Bambury Bookmakers, Hackett's, Mulholland's, Terry Rogers, Toolan Bookmakers, Track Bookmakers and Tully's. These groups operate 180 betting shops across Ireland and have a combined betting turnover of about EUR600 million. Each will have an equal share of BetPack's profits. The move is being supported by Dublin-based investment group Raglan Capital, which has taken a 10 percent stake and has raised close to EUR2 million from its clients to support the venture.
The Irish Independent reports that directory enquiries firm 11850 is to shut down its Dublin call centre with the loss of 78 jobs. The company will now commence a 30-day consultation with employees. Late-night calls to the directory enquiry service have been answered from a low-cost call centre in the Philippines since the company outsourced the night shift to Manila in 2008. That move involved the loss of 10 jobs and prompted fears the day shift could also be transferred to Southeast Asia -- fears which have now been realised. The company said opportunities for vacancies within call centres elsewhere in the business in Ireland will be offered "wherever possible" and, in the event of redundancy, terms will be "generous".
The paper also reports that patient safety is potentially at risk in Dublin's Beaumont Hospital because it is relying on obsolete technology that is two decades old. The admission by the hospital is outlined in a public tender for consultancy services to carry out an urgent system risk analysis of the technology. It warned: "In the likely event of a system failure, there will be significant risks to continuity of service in the hospital and to the integrity of the hospital's data. Both could pose consequential risks to patient safety." A spokesman for Beaumont said the system covers the areas of patient administration, laboratory, order communications and radiology.
The paper also notes that Kerry-based tech firm Altobridge has signed a three-year deal to supply wireless network equipment to the state-owned telecoms company on the Pacific island nation of Tonga. Altobridge will supply Tonga Corp with a solution to improve the nation's macro-GSM coverage.
The Irish Examiner reports that An Post is to begin offering customers a no-frills mobile phone service this week. Post offices will begin selling the prepaid service Postfone, which will eventually be offered at over 300 offices nationwide. An Post hopes the service will appeal to mobile users who are wary of complex mobile phone bill packages and who want a simple way of tracking their spending. It is believed that any network, any time rates of EUR0.20 per minute and EUR0.09 texts are being lined up for the new service. The new service will be fully rolled out over the summer.
According to the Financial Times, business software giant SAP has agreed to buy US rival Sybase in a deal worth USD5.8 billion. The buy is SAP's biggest acquisition in almost three years. The German firm will pay USD65 per share in cash for Sybase -- a 44 percent premium on the three-month average stock price of the database software provider. Bill McDermott, SAP’s co-chief executive, said the company would benefit hugely from Sybase's database and mobile application technology.
The paper also says that Facebook has been sharply criticised by European data protection officials for putting users' privacy at risk with changes to its service. Officials advising the European Commission said in a letter to the social networking company that changes to its default settings in December were "unacceptable". Officials said Facebook needed default settings that ensured only selected contacts could see user profiles. Users should be able to choose explicitly whether their information could be accessed by search engines, they said.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony expects to return to a profit this fiscal year after two years in a row in the red. The Japanese electronics group said it made a net loss of JPY56.57 billion (USD607.04 million) in the January-to-March quarter as restructuring costs continued to weigh, but that was narrower than its JPY165.14 billion loss in the same period a year earlier. Sony forecasts a net profit of JPY50 billion in the fiscal year to March 2011, with operating profit expected to be JPY160 billion and revenue JPY7.6 trillion. Sony's games, TV and mobile phone joint venture Sony Ericsson are all expected to turn from a loss to a profit.
Free! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 