IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 13 July
13-07-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Revenue warns of fake emails | S&P revises outlook for Eircom
The Irish Times reports that the Revenue Commissioners have warned taxpayers to be on the alert for hoax phone calls and emails from people pretending to be Revenue officials. Revenue said it has received "a number of calls" from businesses and individuals who have been contacted by fake officials seeking personal information, and in some cases demanding payment of tax.
The Irish Examiner reports that Standard & Poor's has said that debt issued by Eircom Group's parent companies faces downgrading if the borrowers fail to relieve the pressure on loan conditions. S&P revised its outlook to negative from stable and said it may downgrade the debt as the risk increases that the telco will breach loan covenants in September or December 2011. Eircom owes EUR3 billion under a facility due in March 2016.
According to the Financial Times, US mobile operator Sprint Nextel is examining a technology shift that could pave the way to a merger with T-Mobile USA. Sprint chief executive Dan Hesse told the newspaper the company was considering using a 4G wireless technology called LTE that enables fast web browsing on mobile phones. T-Mobile USA is likely to adopt the same technology, which means that a merger with Sprint could become feasible. In 2008 Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile USA, considered buying Sprint and merging it with T-Mobile, but the German telecoms group decided against the move, partly because Sprint and T-Mobile used different 3G wireless technologies.
The Wall Street Journal reports that product-quality watchdog Consumer Reports has said it cannot recommend the newest Apple iPhone to consumers. It said its tests show a hardware defect causes the iPhone 4 to lose reception when held a certain way, challenging Apple's claims that the problem is rooted in software that can be easily fixed. This is the first time Consumer Reports has failed to give the thumbs-up to an Apple phone. Consumer Reports said it had tested other smartphones in its labs, including the previous iPhone 3GS model as well as the Palm Pre, and found none showed the same loss of signal as the iPhone 4.
The paper also says that a New York judge has issued a temporary restraining order restricting the transfer of Facebook's assets, following a suit by a New York man who claims to own an 84 percent stake in the social networking company. Paul D. Ceglia filed a suit in the Supreme Court on 30 June, claiming that a 2003 contract he signed with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg entitles him to ownership of the company and monetary damages. Ceglia claims he signed a contract with Zuckerberg in 2003 to develop and design a website, paying a USD1,000 fee but getting a 50 percent stake in the product. In a statement, a spokesman for Facebook said: "We believe this suit is completely frivolous and we will fight it vigorously."
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