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Business and Finance reports that e-business software maker SoftCo and Internet consultancy Nua are both to cut staff in order to trim costs. SoftCo is expected to cut around 30 people in its worldwide operations, while Nua chief Gerry McGovern admitted that some of his 60 staff have been given notice, the magazine said.
The Irish Independent reports that telecoms regular Etain Doyle has asked NTL not to stop rolling out its new digital TV, telephone and high-speed Internet services. The Independent, which on Tuesday reported that NTL had cancelled its roll-out, says that Doyle has asked NTL to "review its position" in relation to the introduction of new services. NTL could lose its cable licence, or its exclusivity on broadcast television, if as seems likely it fails to upgrade 100,000 homes by March. NTL has upgraded just 36,000 homes in Dublin so far.
The Irish Times reports that CityReach, the Internet hosting and infrastructure company, on Thursday opens its 120,000 sq. ft. premises in Clonshaugh, Co. Dublin. The facility is to create 30 jobs.
Abroad the Wall Street Journal reports that Internet analyst firm Jupiter Media Metrix is to lay off 80 staff in light of poor results, which will see the company lose USD.22 to USD.23 a share. Analysts had expected a loss of just USD.01 per share. The cuts at Jupiter, which last year merged with data research firm Media Metrix, constitute 8 percent of the workforce. Jupiter's fourth quarter and year-end results are to be published on 8 February.
The Wall Street Journal also publishes a long profile of Irish security technology firm Orbiscom, which has pioneered the area of "disposable" credit and debit card numbers: numbers that are linked to a customer's real credit card or debit card, but that are valid for a single use only for secure Internet shopping. The paper says Orbiscom plans to create new kinds of financial products, including credit-card numbers that an overseer -- such as an employer or a parent -- can monitor in real-time.
The paper also reports on a new line of low-end servers from Sun Microsystems, including the Unix-based Netra (priced below USD1,000) and so-called "server appliances" based on Linux and AMD processors.
The Financial Times, finally, reports that a three-way agreement has been struck between Telecom Italia, NTT Docomo and KPN of the Netherlands to develop mobile services for Europe. NTT, which owns a 15 percent stake of KPN, will work with the two European operators to "exploit the success of I-mode," the paper said. I-mode is the wildly popular mobile Internet service pioneered by NTT in Japan. The paper said development centres will be built in Italy and the Netherlands where staff will develop applications based on the I-mode standard.
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