IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 19 September
19-09-2007
by Deirdre McArdle
Waterford Chamber launches networking website | Novate Medical gets EUR4 million cash injection
The Irish Times reports that Eircom has been awarded a EUR100 million contract to provide telecoms services to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) for 10 years, as noted by ENN.
According to the same paper Irish telecoms company Cubic Telecom has launched a new mobile phone and SIM card which it claims can significantly reduce roaming charges for international travellers. Read the full story on ENN.
The paper also says that US software company 3Par is to create around 80 jobs in a STG9 million (EUR12.96 million) investment in Belfast supported by Invest Northern Ireland, as reported by ENN.
The Irish Independent reports that ComReg has stopped Eircom from launching a new capacity-based wholesale broadband service. According to the regulator, the product does not comply with telecoms regulatory obligations. Capacity-based bitstream is a version of wholesale broadband but alternative broadband providers must buy the entire suite of the incumbent's bitstream. It is understood that the decision was taken following extensive negotiations between ComReg and Eircom.
The Examiner reports on Tuesday's announcement that Apple's iPhone would be available in Britain and North Ireland from 9 November at a price of EUR387 per handset, and that O2 has won the contract to roll out the phone on its network. Apple was unable to say when the handset will be available to subscribers in Ireland, and through which of the country's four mobile operators it would be available.
The same paper says that Waterford Chamber has launched a new networking website, www.businessvillage.ie, in response to the needs and demands of its younger members who it says are busy trying to successfully balance work, home and parental responsibilities.
Still in the Examiner, Novate Medical, a privately-held development-stage medical device company based in Galway, has completed a EUR4 million round of funding. The financing was co-led by Dublin based ACT Venture Capital and life science investor Seroba BioVentures, with Enterprise Ireland also participating in the round.
The Wall Street Journal reports that venture-capital investment in so-called Web 2.0 companies is showing signs of maturity, with deals spreading outside the San Francisco Bay Area, which is known for producing some of the most high-profile internet companies. Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst & Young figures showed that in 2006 USD413.7 million was invested in companies in the Bay Area in over 69 rounds of financing, outdoing any other region in the US or overseas. In the first half of 2007 though, venture capitalists invested just USD90.5 million in 25 rounds there, while investors directed USD646.2 million into 101 deals worldwide in the first half of the year, a 6 percent increase in investments over the same period in 2006, amid a rising interest in Web 2.0 in Europe and Israel.
According to the Financial Times chip giant Intel has rejected suggestions by its rival AMD that its latest quad-core chips were failing to make an impact with PC users. In an interview with the paper, Paul Otellini, chief executive, said Intel's chips with "four brains" were priced as a "super-premium product" for desktop PCs. "I'm very happy with our strategy. Quad core will come down [in price] but there's really no functional reason to do that in markets that don't need it right now... you don't want to get too far ahead of the applications in the mainstream," he said.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 