IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 4 October
04-10-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Eircom may take legal action over MANs | Google Ireland will not be targeted in Australian court case
The Irish Times reports that Eircom has threatened to take "action" over the Government's development of regional broadband investments, according to a document prepared by senior civil servants in the Department of Communications. The threat from the telco relates to the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), which are being rolled out in towns around the country. "Eircom have also threatened action in relation to phase II of the MANs programme," the document states in a section entitled 'Key immediate/priority issues'. A department spokeswoman confirmed that Eircom had "hinted" at legal action over the Government's intervention in the market. An Eircom spokesman would not confirm or deny that Eircom is considering action.
Separately, the paper reports that the Department of Communications will examine how private sector investment in broadband can be encouraged as part of an overhaul of policy in the sector. A department spokeswoman confirmed a "policy document" was being prepared but said it had not been decided whether it will take the form of a Green Paper. "The document will lay out the various ministerial options available to facilitate the development of next-generation networks (NGNs) and their rollout by the private sector," she said.
The same paper says that Opposition parties have called on the Government to scrap plans for electronic voting after a Dutch judge ruled that the use of the machines used in elections in the Netherlands had not been properly authorised. The Dutch maker of the machines, Nedap, had already suffered a setback as a result of an official report in the Netherlands last month that criticised the transparency of e-voting. Labour and Fine Gael say the developments should seal the fate of the controversial scheme and have called on Minister for the Environment John Gormley to scrap it.
The Irish Independent reports that Dublin City Council is introducing a new cashless payment system for parking. The new system, expected to be introduced by next April, will allow members of the public to pay for parking at the capital's 950 meters using a credit card. The new system will not replace the existing system but will expand the range of payment options.
The Irish Examiner notes the launch of Cubic Telecom's MAXroam SIM card, which claims to reduce costs for mobile phone users who are roaming internationally. Read more on this story on ENN.
According to the Financial Times, Australia's competition regulator has agreed to only target parent firm Google Inc, and not its Australian and Irish arms, in court action over alleged sponsored advertising links it says are misleading. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it had told a Federal Court in Sydney it would amend its action after Google Inc confirmed any judgement against it would apply to its subsidiaries. "Google Inc has told us it is responsible for everything," said ACCC spokeswoman Lin Enright. "So we agreed with Google Inc that if there were any injunctions or declarations made against Google Inc they would have to put them into effect in Australia."
The paper also says that UK mobile operator O2 has set itself a target of having 1 million fixed-line broadband customers by 2010. O2 will launch its fixed-line broadband service on 15 October, although it will only be available initially to half the UK population. This is because O2 is offering broadband in areas where it can take control of BT landlines running from telephone exchanges to homes. O2 has the capacity to do this in towns and cities where 50 percent of the population lives, but it may extend its reach.
The Wall Street Journal says that seven technology vendors are laying out plans to collaborate on a standard layer of software that will make it easier to develop mobile phones and other devices with iPhone-like sophistication. The effort, designed to exploit chip technology from the British company ARM Holdings, could help the company and its allies gird for new competition from Intel. Other participants include chipmakers Texas Instruments, Samsung Electronics and Marvell Technology Group.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 