IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 3 September
03-09-2007
by Stephen Errity
BT Group has over 4 million broadband customers ¦ HotOrigin goes into liquidation
The Irish Times reports that the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has provided a "qualified" approval to a worldwide vote on whether the format used for Microsoft Office files should be accepted as an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standard. Voting closed with the NSAI seeking 12 changes that will go forward for consideration at a meeting next February. If these are implemented, Ireland would then give full approval to Microsoft's application. ISO approval would encourage wider adoption of the Microsoft Open XML format by public sector organisations.
The Financial Times reports that BT Group says it has signed up more than 4 million customers to its broadband service. Britain's dominant fixed-line telecoms operator said it had 172,000 broadband customers in 2002, when it decided to put broadband at the centre of its strategy -- meaning it has signed more than 2,000 customers a day since then.
The paper also says that Hollywood's leading studios are holding back the growth of digital downloading by their failure to adopt a common strategy for the distribution of content, a new report warns. Screen Digest, the media research consultancy, says that Hollywood's failure to agree on a dominant downloading format has resulted in a fragmented market that is confusing consumers. "The DVD worked because someone came along and bashed enough heads together to persuade the studios to go with one technology," said Arash Amel, a senior analyst with Screen Digest. "That's not happening with digital."
The Sunday Business Post reports that Quinn Healthcare has lost the contract to provide health insurance to Google's 1,350 Irish employees to chief rival VHI. It reports that Google made the decision after a tender process. Quinn Healthcare was formed with the acquisition of Bupa in February this year.
The same paper reports that HotOrigin, a Dublin firm that was founded in 2000 to advise and invest in technology companies, has gone into liquidation. Hot Origin was founded at the height of the tech boom by former Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) employee David Dalton. The company secured a start-up investment of EUR3.2 million from AIB and invested in ten companies in total. However, several of these companies ran into difficulties with the downturn in the technology sector and some went out of business.
The paper also says that British telecoms firm Euphony has suffered a slump in its Irish sales, posting a figure of EUR15.6 million for 2006, a drop of 23 percent on the previous year. Irish sales accounted for just under 10 percent of the company's total revenue for 2006 and it is believed the company is making a loss in this country. Despite this setback, the company's directors are reported as being satisfied with its performance, noting that the fall in revenue was 'in line with the marketplace'.
Also in the paper is news of Smart Telecom's relaunch. The paper reports that the telecoms firm has gone through a EUR90 million recapitalisation since its dramatic collapse last year and is now setting its sights on a 4 percent market share. It says that Smart is taking a more low-key approach to its marketing strategy this time around, directing its key propositions at the corporate and SME markets. The company did not go out of business entirely and has retained about 200 corporate clients as well as some residential and SME customers.
The paper also reports that Internet Protocol television firm (IPTV) Shenick Network Systems has signed the first deal for its new software product with a European telecoms provider. IPTV refers to television content delivered over the internet as opposed to more traditional broadcast formats. Shenick founder Alan Robinson said his company was in talks with about a dozen other potential customers in the Far East and Europe. He added that 40 percent annual growth was expected in the IPTV sector in the coming years.
The same paper says that Strencom, an internet protocol services provider, is planning to raise EUR1.5 million in funding to finance the expansion of the company through acquisitions. Managing director Tim Murphy told the paper that three or four Irish companies have already been approached and that he hopes to have the first acquisition completed by early next year.
The paper also carries news of a new agreement between two Irish companies to promote making mobile phone calls online, without the use of a network operator. Internet telephony firm Blueface and Wi-Fi operator Bitbuzz have joined forces to offer a new service whereby users of high-spec mobile phones can bypass their network operator by logging on to an internet site and routing their calls through the web.
The paper also reports on proposals from communications regulator ComReg for the use of mobile phones on planes to be regulated. The provision of an 'on-off' switch for the flight crew to control the in-flight mobile network, as well as a ban on calls below 9,000 feet and during takeoff and landing, have all been discussed.
The paper also reveals the results of a new survey which shows that the younger and wealthier you are, the more likely you are to shop online. The study interviewed 15,000 people over a one-year period and found that 71 percent of them had never made an online purchase of any kind. This figure decreased among younger and wealthier demographics.
The Sunday Tribune reports that the internet is running out of network addresses and could be headed for disaster within five years. The paper spoke to internet pioneer and Google vice-president Vint Cerf, who says that the current IPv4 system can only sustain a finite number of internet protocol (IP) addresses. Cerf called for a move to the IPv6 system in order to avert an 'economic trainwreck' in five years' time. IPv6 supports 340 trillion trillion trillion different connections, whereas the current system can only handle 4.2 billion.
The same paper also reports that Dublin-based biometric security firm Daon recently landed one of its biggest contracts to date. Details of the deal are shrouded in secrecy, but it is believed to run for four years and involve the ministry of justice of "a major Asian economy". Daon previously partnered with Unisys in a EUR40 million deal to build the American government's 'Registered Traveller' programme and also has relationships with the governments of Australia and New Zealand and the interior ministries of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The Sunday Times carries the story of UniquePhones, the supposedly Belfast-based company which caused a global media storm during the week when it claimed that it could unlock the Apple iPhone from the AT&T network for a fee of EUR36. The company has now said it will be delaying introduction of this service after a "late night phonecall from a lawyer in California". Doubts have now been raised over whether the company can actually do what it claims, after a blurry and unprofessional 'how-to' video was posted on the UniquePhones website last Tuesday. The company also appears to no longer be operating out of its registered address in Belfast.
The paper also reports that a steamy Chinese romance novel has appeared on the internet after censors banned the print copy. Hua Cheng magazine, the publishers of Serve The People, have had all print copies of the book confiscated and been told not to speak to foreign media. The book tells the story of the wife of a Chinese army general who has an affair with a young soldier.
Also in the Sunday Times is news that several German Jewish leaders are planning to bring criminal charges against Google-owned YouTube after clips from Nazi propaganda films and music videos by white supremacist bands were uploaded to the site. The Central Council of Jews in Germany is reported as saying that the response of YouTube's owner Google to the uploads has been 'unacceptably passive.' Nazi materials are banned in Germany under strict laws dealing with incitement to racial hatred.
In a separate story, the paper reports that both Wikipedia and News Corporation/NBC are preparing to challenge YouTube's domination of the online video market and that the French video site Dailymotion has been experiencing strong growth of late. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says that his new service will consist of "people around the world contributing footage and editing it together". The NBC service will be known as Hulu and will feature licensed content distributed to partner sites AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.
The Times also reports that in addition to the video service, Wikipedia is preparing its own search engine to rival those of Google and Yahoo. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says that the new Wikia Search site's algorithms will be open for editing to anyone with sufficient programming knowledge. Wales says he hopes to be rivalling the bigger search engines within three years of the new site's launch.
The paper also reports that Eircom parent company Babcock & Brown has held talks with Three Ireland owner Hutchison Whampoa about the sale of Eircom's mobile division Meteor. The paper says that Meteor could be valued at EUR800 million in any deal. Observers say a merger between Meteor and Three would make commercial sense, as although Three has the largest high-speed 3G network in the country, much of its network capacity remains unused and it has struggled to make in impact in the market since its launch in 2005.
The Sunday Independent reports that the online MA in Pharmaceutical Medicine, a joint e-learning initiative from Hibernia College and Pfizer, has produced its first graduates. The programme was previously only open to Pfizer employees but is now being offered to all interested candidates. The programme's faculty are located all over the world and the first 27 graduates hail from 11 different countries.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 