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In the papers 26 February 
Tuesday, February 26 2002
by Paula Mythen


Ireland's new premium rate SMS scheme to enable "virtual girlfriends" |
Microsoft to move into customer relationship management market 



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.