|
The Irish Times reports that Vodafone failed to make an EUR44 million payment to Ireland's telecoms regulator on Wednesday for its 3G mobile licence, asking for a one-month delay. A Vodafone spokeswoman said the company will introduce 3G in Ireland, but there is nevertheless speculation that the company may not build a 3G network here. Rival operator O2, meanwhile, did accept its third-generation licence by the deadline of midnight on Wednesday.
The paper also reports that a leak of hydrochloric acid was contained without incident at the Intel semiconductor manufacturing plant in Leixlip, Co. Kildare. The leak is thought to have been caused by a fractured valve in the acid storage tank.
Most Irish papers also report that NTL Ireland saw earnings rise to EUR6.3 million for the quarter to the end of June, and gained around 22,000 customers for its digital television product. Get the full report in ElectricNews.Net's Markets section.
The Irish Independent reports that Iona Technologies and Riverdeep have been delisted from benchmarking indices. Iona was dropped from Morgan Stanley's Capital International Ireland Index, while software company Riverdeep will leave the Stoxx 600 index of European shares.
The paper also reports that ElectricNews.Net has announced a content supply agreement with AIB. The content will appear on AIB's personal portal Web site, and will include information on the IT and telecoms industry, a live IT news service, and events diary.
Also in the Independent is a report from an annual survey of Irish students, which shows that girls spend more than two hours more than boys at their homework, while boys on average spend six times longer at computer games.
The Financial Times reports that Dell Computer is expected to report strong results on Thursday, including a 14 percent increase in earnings to USD0.19 per share and a boost in revenues to reach USD8.3 billion for the second quarter.
The Wall Street Journal reports that AOL Time Warner has identified three questionable transactions at its America Online unit totalling USD49 million. The company said the unit may have improperly recognised revenue over a period of six quarters ended 31 March 2002. Nevertheless the company's Chief Executive Richard Parsons and Chief Financial Officer Wayne Pace signed the Securities and Exchange Commission's required oath stating that "to the best of their knowledge" the company's financial statements are truthful.
The paper also reports on a notable drop-off in IT spending in China, including by China's telecom operators. PC sales are also falling, growing just 6.6 percent during the second quarter compared to a growth rate of more than 27 percent the previous year. The decreases were revealed in recent statistics published by the Ministry of Information Industry.
The same paper reports that Barnes & Noble.com may see its stock de-listed from the Nasdaq because its shares have been trading below the USD1 minimum level for the past 30 days. The company has until 04 November to regain compliance.
|
