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The Irish Independent reports that x-rated messages and virtual girlfriends will be available among new text services as a result of changes to the short message service (SMS) regulations introduced on Monday. Under the new five-digit code scheme, the first two numbers will allow consumers to see which of the cost structures will apply to a text service. In future, customers will only have to dial 59 followed by three numbers for SMS phone sex, said a regular SMS user. Free SMS services will begin with the numbers 50. The regulator of Premium Rate Services, Regtel, will play an important role in monitoring the new system, according to the telecommunications regulator's office spokeswoman.
The paper also reports that shares in Alphyra, the electronic payments group, re-bounded on Tuesday as the company announced a bill payment deal with Powergen in the UK and recently-appointed stockbrokers Investec came out with a "strong buy" for the stock. The company's shares hit a high of EUR2.30 at one stage during trading on Monday which marked a 64 percent recovery on the EUR1.40 level to which Alphyra slumped last week.
The Irish Times reports that NTL in Northern Ireland has expanded from just 20 people when Ian Jeffers joined the company in 1996 to nearly 300 today. However the debt-laden company has had to invest more than STG300 million in the North to develop its market and build a completely new network. In the UK alone the group acquired 17 companies in less than six years. Today NTL owes its creditors STG12 billion and the group has now appointed three advisers -- Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan Chase -- to help it find a way of reducing this debt mountain.
The Financial Times reports that American Express, the US financial services company, has signed a USD4 billion, seven-year technology deal with IBM. The company's Web site, Americanexpress.com, is to be hosted by IBM who will also provide technological support for employees and run processing for Amex's 1 billion transactions a day. The bulk of Amex's customer enquiries would continue to be handled by the company, which would also continue to independently develop new products and services.
The paper also reports that Microsoft is to announce on Tuesday its first significant move into the small and medium-sized company enterprise software market following its acquisition of Great Plains software, a supplier of accounting software, in December 2000. The company is expected to announce its intention to ship a product during the fourth quarter called Microsoft CRM (customer relationship management), aimed at companies that want to run sales automation software but cannot afford large information technology staffs.
The Wall Street Journal reports that when Global Crossing Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection last month, it listed USD22 billion in assets -- but the company may be valued at just USD1 billion to USD2 billion, people familiar with its books say.
The paper also reports that Brandes Investment Partners LP, a money-management firm that held about 1.3 percent of HP's shares at the end of 2001, said it plans to vote against the company's acquisition of Compaq. The disclosure comes just three weeks before a 19 March shareholder vote on the proposed transaction. San Diego-based Brandes owned 24.7 million HP shares as of Dec. 31, making it the 12th-largest institutional holder of the technology company's shares. The Hewlett and Packard families and their charitable foundations have already said they will vote their combined 18 percent holdings against the deal.
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