IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 6 July
06-07-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Perlico to re-sell Three packages | Yahoo and Microsoft to clarify privacy policies
The Irish Times reports that telecoms and broadband firm Perlico has made its first foray into the mobile phone sector, through a deal to re-sell packages for Three. The agreement gives Perlico a low-cost opportunity to develop expertise in the mobile business in advance of its declared plan to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). For Three, the arrangement provides access to a fixed-line offering and the opportunity to develop "bundled" mobile and fixed-line packages with Perlico.
The paper also says that ICS Computing has increased its annual turnover to EUR18 million. Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper notes that new site BidtoBargain.ie is providing a reverse auction forum for home improvement and building services such as painting, plumbing, landscaping and interior design. Visitors can post a request for a specific job and suppliers can reply with a quote, which is posted on the auction. Other suppliers can then provide a lower quote.
The Irish Independent says that Shane O'Neill, the chairman of UPC Ireland -- which owns NTL and Chorus -- has netted a profit of USD6 million by selling off shares in UPC parent Liberty Global. According to a recent filing on the US Nasdaq exchange, O'Neill exercised options over 230,000 shares in the UPC parent on 4 April at USD6.48 and sold the majority of them later that day at USD32.25. He sold the rest a few days later at USD32.80. The filing also shows that O'Neill still holds 26,672 shares in the company valued at over USD1 million, based on the current share price.
The paper also says that Vodafone shares fell on Thursday on the back of growing expectations that rival O2 would scoop the contract to bring Apple's iPhone to the UK. The mobile operator's shares -- which jumped last week partly on hopes that the group would secure an exclusive, pan-European iPhone deal -- slipped by more than 2 percent in London by close of trading on Thursday.
The Irish Examiner reports that a British teaching union has called for the Northern and Irish governments to start regulating mobile and internet providers in order to stop teachers being bullied. The NASUWT said there were increasing numbers of websites such as Bebo and MSN that enable young people to bully others, and it claimed that the bullying has spread to teachers. "Bebo and Ratemyteacher are at the centre of the problem," the union said, adding that they had collated evidence to suggest the websites were causing teachers untold distress and trauma.
The Financial Times says that Yahoo and Microsoft are preparing to announce concessions in their privacy policies in the next few weeks, as pressure mounts in Europe over the length of time online search companies should be allowed to hold personal data. Google recently clarified its privacy policies and agreed to keep search data for no longer than 18 months, but so far neither Yahoo nor Microsoft has specified any time limits on the user data they hold. They say data are kept for as long as is commercially useful, which means, in practice, that some data is stored indefinitely. The two firms are now expected to announce changes to their policies and to give clear guidance on how long data will be kept.
According to the same paper, PC maker Dell is considering selling its machines in retail stores in Asia in an effort to revitalise sales. The move, which comes a month after Dell began selling desktop computers in the US in Wal-Mart stores, is a further departure from years of reliance on direct sales over the telephone and internet.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Motorola will post a net pre-tax charge of USD101 million for the second quarter in connection with previously-announced job cuts. The company said in May that a workforce reduction of 3,500 would be completed by 30 June. Motorola also announced initiatives in May, including an additional workforce reduction of about 4,000. For the year-earlier second quarter, Motorola reported net income of USD1.38 billion, or USD0.55 a share.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 