IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 22 October
22-10-2007
by Stephen Errity
Vonage faces another patent lawsuit | Eircom to offer customers free access to hotspots
The Irish Independent says that the website of Kendar Holdings, the investment company owned by beleaguered solicitor Michael Lynn, has been suspended. Late last week anxious investors were reassured through the site, www.kendarholdings.com, that the company was "working closely" with overseas companies to provide assurances to all clients that their investments were secure. But the site was suspended on Sunday following a dramatic week when several banks moved to protect their loans and recover some EUR26.3 million owed to them by the Mayo-born property developer.
The Financial Times says that France Telecom is shaking up management at its Orange mobile phone business in the UK after seeing its profitability decline. Bernard Ghillebaert, chief executive of Orange UK, is leaving his position and is expected to be replaced by a Briton from outside the France Telecom group. Ghillebaert's move follows a review of Orange UK by Olaf Swantee, who joined France Telecom as head of mobile operations for Europe and the Middle East in August.
The paper also reports that AT&T's mobile unit will announce plans on Monday for an instant "over-the-air" music download service to be launched next month in the US with Napster. AT&T's Napster Mobile service will be launched in mid-November and will enable mobile phone subscribers to search, preview, purchase and download music from Napster's catalogue of more than 4 million tracks directly to their handsets. Single tracks will cost USD1.99 each, but subscribers will also be able to purchase up to five tracks a month for USD7.49. A back-up copy of purchased tracks will be sent automatically to the purchaser's PC.
The Wall Street Journal reports that internet telephony firm Vonage Holdings has suffered another blow, disclosing that a third major telco had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against it. AT&T filed a suit on Wednesday in a federal court in Wisconsin claiming Vonage is violating a single patent that lets users access an internet phone system using a standard phone device, Vonage said in a regulatory filing. Vonage has been reeling in the past year after losing two high-profile patent lawsuits, involving Verizon and Sprint Nextel.
According to the same paper, Yahoo has announced that Cammie Dunaway, chief marketing officer and head of the customer experience division, is leaving the company, effective 2 November. A Yahoo spokeswoman confirmed the move but didn't respond to a request to comment about the reasons for Dunaway's departure. Allen Olivo, vice president for global brand marketing, will succeed Dunaway on an interim basis. Executives to depart Yahoo since May include Executive Vice President for Sales Gregory Coleman, Chief Sales Officer Wenda Harris Millard and Chief Technology Officer Farzad Nazem.
The Sunday Business Post reports that Minister for Communications Eamonn Ryan intends to give more powers to Regtel, the premium telephone services regulator. Regtel's recent annual report revealed that 2,111 complaints had been received in relation to premium-rate phone and text services between 2006 and 2007, and the Minister is reported as saying that the regulator's current powers lack sufficient 'bite' to deter providers who break its code of conduct.
The paper also says that Denis O'Brien's Digicel is one of four firms that have pre-qualified to bid for a telecoms licence in Honduras. Also bidding for the licence on 19 December will be O2's Spanish parent company, Telefonica, and two other European firms, one of which is said to be British.
The same paper reports on the multi-million-euro court action due to be taken this week by Dublin technology firm Espatial against its founder and former director, Liam McGeown, who left in 2003. The company, which is backed by financier Dermot Desmond, is seeking damages of EUR5.9 million, claiming that McGeown violated the terms of his departure agreement by establishing a rival company in the US called Acquis.
The paper also says that turnover at Co. Louth-based computer manufacturer Iqon Technologies fell slightly last year, reflecting a drop in sales in Ireland and the UK. The company registered a turnover of EUR62.1 million in 2006, compared to EUR64.3 million in 2005. When this drop was combined with rising distribution and administration costs, the company moved into the red in 2006, making a pre-tax loss of EUR805,440.
The same paper also reports that the Irish print media is running the risk of being left behind as sales of online advertising continue to soar, with revenue from online advertising expected to exceed that of cinema advertising for the first time in 2007. The first audit of an Irish newspaper's online audience is expected sometime next year and advertisers are said to be pushing for figures to be revealed more frequently than the current twice-annually model.
The paper also says that Shane O'Neill, the Liberty Global executive with responsibility for the NTL and Chorus businesses in Ireland, is set to earn up to EUR35 million from shares in the parent company within the next five years. The stock allocation is part of a new senior executive incentive plan launched by Liberty Global earlier this year.
The paper also reports that Irish e-learning firm PulseLearning is predicting revenues of more than EUR8.4 million after securing a number of major deals. The Kerry company has recently agreed a three-year contract renewal with Computer Associates and has also signed significant deals with Pfizer and Bank of America.
The paper also says that OmniPay, a Dublin-based credit card payment processing firm, has reported pre-tax profits of EUR3.4 million for 2006, an increase of 80 percent over the previous year. The company's technology is used by large banks around the world to process millions of payments every day.
The paper also says that technology firm Vero Solutions has doubled its staff since January and is heading for a record turnover of EUR5 million in 2007, up from EUR1.49 million the previous year. Vero specialises in on-site engineering placement for the telecoms industry as well as software development. The company's MD, Barry O'Brien, told the paper that several new deals contributed to the increase in revenues, with contracts being signed with MobileAware, Tango Telecom and O2 Ireland in recent months.
The Sunday Tribune reports that several laptop computers worth EUR17,000 in total have been stolen from Revenue officials over the past three years. The thefts were confirmed to the Dail last week by Finance Minister Brian Cowen. A spokesperson for the Revenue said that none of the laptops had been recovered but that any and all sensitive information stored on them was password-protected. It was also revealed in the Dail last week that laptops worth nearly EUR15,000 had been stolen from the Department of Foreign Affairs by a contract employee in June 2004.
The paper also says that Eircom customers will have free access to 1,100 wireless hotspots around the country from next year. Subscribers can sign up for a free username and password on the company's website which can then be used to connect to the internet at hotspots in phone booths, restaurants, train stations, airports, bars and hotels around the country.
The paper also reports on the meeting of the Telecoms Industry Federation (TIF) in Dublin last week, which heard of the urgent need to upgrade Ireland's telecom networks from copper wiring and phone exchanges to digitised networks linked by fibre optics. The conference also heard that Irish telcos are set to spend EUR3.2 billion on upgrades over the next five years, with government expenditure in the same period reaching EUR3.6 billion.
The Sunday Independent claims that the Irish Times' aggressive purchase of MyHome.ie last year has yet to bear the fruits widely expected. Last year, the newspaper paid 25 times profits, or EUR50 million, to secure the property website. Its most recently filed accounts show that profits at the web firm halved to EUR750,229 post tax from EUR1.57 million a year earlier. Pre-tax profits were also down, coming in at EUR1.12 million, compared with EUR1.7 million a year earlier.
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