IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 2 November
02-11-2007
by Deirdre McArdle
Job cuts loom at Siemens | ParkMagic wins lucrative contract with CIE
The Irish Times reports that the new head of German engineering group Siemens is planning a series of aggressive earnings targets for senior managers, along with thousands of job cuts, as he aims to introduce a US-style "can-do" culture at the firm. Among Peter Loscher's plans are the cutting of middle-management jobs from the group's workforce of more than 400,000. While it has not been announced how many jobs will go, analysts think it could be as many as 10,000 in the next few years, mostly outside Germany.
The paper also reports that Limerick mobile payments and wireless technology firm ParkMagic has won a contract to provide a mobile parking payment system in five CIE train station car parks. The deal could be worth up to EUR1 million in revenues for ParkMagic.
The Irish Times also says that mobile operator Three is offering free calls and messaging to customers who have an account with VoIP provider Skype. Read the full story on ENN.
Still in the same paper, an Irish firm is looking to raise EUR1 million in funding for a joint venture to promote science and technology to US students. GradNet is raising the funds through a Business Expansion Scheme (BES). The firm has entered a partnership with New York-based public service broadcaster WCNY to establish a US firm which will use the internet to encourage students' interest in science, technology, engineering and maths. The scheme will be piloted in New York state from January.
ComReg, the communications regulator, has published a consultation paper on a key piece of regulation which will determine the margins that Eircom is allowed to make on its fixed-line business, according to the Irish Times. The regulatory instrument in question is called weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and it is a key input into the prices Eircom can charge for its regulated products, as noted by ENN.
The Irish Independent says that as bright students shun science courses, weaker students are now enrolling in these courses in greater numbers. This could be a disaster for both students and colleges, according to science educator Dr Peter Childs, of the University of Limerick, who said that Ireland must now face up to the "dumbing down" of its academic courses. He said that this year, all of the higher certificate/ordinary degree (levels 6/7) science courses had cut-off points of less than 300, which is under the average Central Applications Office score.
The Irish Examiner notes that the Institute of Technology, Tralee has confirmed details of a EUR10.8 million infrastructure development on campus. Work has commenced on a state-of-the-art library facility which will cover three floors and 3,529 square meters. The library building is expected to be finished by early 2009.
The Wall Street Journal reports that MySpace and Bebo have signed on to OpenSocial, a new technical specification put forward by Google. The OpenSocial technical specifications, which Google announced Tuesday, allow software developers to write web-based applications that run within a number of different social-network services and also tap into user information.
According to the Financial Times Sprint Nextel, the third-biggest US mobile phone company, has slowed its capital spending in an effort to boost its free cash flow. This move could potentially delay the planned commercial deployment of a 4G wireless broadband network based on WiMax technology. The capital outlay cutbacks, which could also hit Sprint Nextel's telecommunications equipment suppliers, comes as the company struggles to stem a loss in subscribers and continues its search for a new chief executive to replace Gary Forsee, who resigned under pressure from the board last month.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 