Europe Intelligence Wire articles from October 2007

Europe Intelligence Wire archives from October 2007

British Banks head to head with Consumers Association.
October 30, 2007... (From Banking Newslink) Which?, the magazine of the UK Consumers Association claims that banks have used a series of underhand tactics to discourage consumers from challenging bank fees. The tactics are said to include immediate closure...

Lithuania - Teo buys DTT broadcaster.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Lthuanian operator Teo has agreed to acquire UAB Nacionaline Skaitmenine Televizija. Spun off from cable operator UAB Mikrovisatos TV, the company has two licences for broadcasting TV channels over DVB-T...

Spain - Telefonica launches mobile phones for disabled.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Telefonica de Espana has launched a range of mobile phones and cable phones, aimed at elderly people or people with a visual or auditory disability. The launch forms part of the Telefonica Accesible program....

Switzerland - Aldi to launch mobile prepaid service in Switzerland.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Super market chain Aldi plans to launch mobile services in Switzerland under the name Salut!-mobile from 5 November. The prepaid service uses the network of TDC subsidiary and Swiss mobile operator sunrise and...

Germany - EBay becomes second largest German internet property.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Google was the most visited internet property in Germany with 23.2 million unique visitors age 15 or older during September of this year, reaching 70 percent of the total German internet audience, according to...

Germany - Arcor launches IPTV service in 51 German cities.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone's German fixed network operator Arcor is open for orders for its ITPV service called Digital TV, which is available in 51 German cities. The service will commercially launch on 1 December and include...

Europe - EC reserves two numbers for child, adult support lines.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The European Commission has adopted a decision to reserve two Europe-wide phone numbers to provide a free service for children and adults seeking emotional support. The free phone numbers are 116111 and 116123....

Switzerland - Switzerland launches tender for regional WiMAX licences.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The Swiss federal office of communications Bakom is launching a procedure for the award of regional licences for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) based on WiMAX technology. Unlike the nationwide licences already...

Western Europe - Polymer Vision buys subcontractor Innos.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Polymer Vision has acquired Innos, the manufacturing subcontractor of the company's mobile rollable displays, for an undisclosed sum. Polymer Vision said it is preparing for expected accelerating growth in the...

Hungary - T-Mobile Hungary offers mobile internet acces for HUF 1,290.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Hungary will launch a new mobile internet tariff structure on 1 November, offering an entry-level package for HUF 1,290 per month. T-Mobile offers broadband Internet to almost 50 percent of the...

Romania - Romtelecom launches DSL promotions including PC.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Romanian telecommunications operator Romtelecom has launched a promotion for its ADSL service ClickNet for both residential and business clients, who order before the end of this year. The promotion includes...

Germany - Phone House to expand tariff advice tool with energy tariffs.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German telecom retailer The Phone House Telecom plans to expand its current tariff advisory and calculation tool with energy services, according to the managing director of the Phone House Germany, Ralf-Peter...

Germany - Deutsche Telekom unveils two support projects.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Deutsche Telekom has unveiled two partnerships with third parties. The first is a deal between German professional basketball team Telekom Baskets Bonn and Deutsche Telekom's mobility subsidiary...

France - Ebay France puts vendors on TV in national advertising drive.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) For its first French national TV advertising campaign, eBay is auctioning TV advertising time to its users, writes 01net. There are ten categories, including women's clothing, high tech, automotive, tools and...

Germany - Government happy with German broadband market dynamics.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The German secretary for economics, Peter Hintze, is happy with the current dynamics on the German broadband market. The German broadband market has grow with 4.8 million connections during the year preceding...

France - Orange France celebrates Halloween with free messaging.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) To celebrate Halloween, Orange France is offering free, unlimited SMS to all mainland French mobile and fixed phones between 21:30 on 31 October and 08:00 on 1 November. Additionally, between 08:00 and 21:00...

Germany - Broadband connections offer up to 64% of advertised speeds.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German broadband connections offer up to 64 percent of the promised maximum download speed according to 20 million measurements executed by German PC magazine ComputerBild among DSL connections of the largest...

France - Numericable adds unlimited overseas telephony.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French cabler Numericable will expand its unlimited telephony service to include overseas calls on 5 November. A total ofh 45 international destinations are included, in addition to calls to all French...

Czech Republic - Telefonica O2 CEO expects end to fixed line decline soon.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Czech telecommunications operator Telefonica O2 expects the decline in the number of fixed lines to stop soon, according to CEO Salvador Anglada cited by Czech newsagency CTK. In the first nine months of this...

Belgium - BASE posts drop in Q3 results on MTA cuts.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Belgian mobile operator BASE reported third-quarter sales down 6.8 percent to EUR 151 million, hurt by cuts to mobile termination rates. According to the company, without the MTA cuts, revenues would have been...

Germany - Vodafone in talks to acquire remaining Arcor stake - report.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone is in informal discussions about a EUR 400 million-plus deal to buy the 27 percent of its German fixed network operator Arcor that it does not own, reports UK newspaper The Times. Vodafone has...

Italy - CoopVoce signs up 100,000 customers.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Italian supermarket chain Coop has managed to sign up 100,000 users for its new mobile telephony service CoopVoce. It has also introduced a new tariff, called Veloce Coop, aimed at those making short phone calls...

France - NRJ Mobile launches Spider-Man 3 Nokia phone pack.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French MVNO NRJ Mobile is launching the NRJ Mobile Box Feat Spider-Man 3 pack to coincide with the 1 November release of the Spider-Man 3 movie on DVD. Available online and at newspaper/cigarette shops, the EUR...

Germany - Debitel, dug to market Alice, Arcor, T-Home DSL services.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German telecommunication services provider debitel and its telecom stores subsidiary dug telecom will start marketing the DSL services from German ISP Alice, Vodafone's German fixed network subsidiary Arcor and...

France - Alcatel-Lucent unions call for industrial action.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Three Alcatel-Lucent unions have called a one-hour industrial action for 31 October, the day the company announces its quarterly results, to protest against an expected announcement of further layoffs at a...

Netherlands - KPN revenues down 1.6% in Netherlands in Q3.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) KPN reported a 1.6 percent decline in third-quarter sales in its home market the Netherlands, to EUR 2.116 billion from EUR 2.128 billion a year earlier. EBITDA fell to EUR 836 million from EUR 842 million,...

Italy - Alcatel-Lucent wins optical transport deal from Interoute.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Alcatel-Lucent has deployed out its core optical transport product in Italy for Interoute, UK-based pan-European operator. Extending the reach of Interoute's existing infrastructure, Alcatel-Lucent commissioned...

Denmark - Stratus wins VoIP contract from Denmark's Smile Content.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Stratus Technologies has been chosen by Denmark-based Smile Content for deploying its VoIP service over its IP backbone and broadband access infrastructure. Smile Content will be using the Stratus Emerging...

Switzerland - Orange Switzerland, ewz launch fibre optical pilot in Zurich.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Swiss utilities provider ewz and Orange Switzerland have launched their pilot study using ewz's fibre optical network in Zurich. During the 5 months pilot, 55 households in Zurich are connected by ewz.zurinet...

Czech Republic - Vodafone CR expands portfolio with exclusive devices.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone Czech Republic is expanding its portfolio with the HTC TyTN II, the new VMC ExpressCard data card, and the Vodafone live! Sony Ericsson V640i, which is available exclusively through Vodafone. The HTC...

Europe - Debitel to replace CEO on 1 December.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Germany-based European telecom service provider debitel has appointed current marketing director Oliver Steil as its new CEO per 1 December. The current CEO Axel Rueckert will leave the company, which decided...

Europe - Easynet names Planat to new position of COO.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Easynet has named Denis Planat to the new position of chief operating officer. Planat has held senior management roles at businesses including IBM and Vivendi, and in 1995 organised Siris, a joint venture...

Germany - Develo launches Homeplug product for audio.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German network specialist devolo has added a new entertainment product to its dLAN series of products. With the dLAN Audio extender, one can connect a PC to an entertainment system or active speakers within a...

Romania - Cosmote Romania passes 3 mln customers mark.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Mobile operator Cosmote Romania has surpassed the 3 million customer mark since the launch at the end of 2005. The operator is a subsidiary of Greece-based mobile operator Cosmote. With its expanding market...

Germany - Deutsche Telekom, Freenet win Telecom Handel reader's choice.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Deutsche Telekom is the best fixed network operator/ISP of the year 2007 with an own network, according to the readers of German telecom retailer magazine Telecom Handel. The best fixed network service...

Europe - T-Mobile selects Amdocs Enterprise Product Catalog 7.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile International selected Amdocs Enterprise Product Catalog 7. The Amdocs software will provide T-Mobile International with a single, enterprise-wide repository for all products and price plans across...

Czech Republic - T-Mobile CR unveils Christmas promotion for businesses.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Czech Republic has unveiled its Christmas promotion for business customers offering free calls to other T-Mobile customers with a maximum of two years. The free calls are available with the Kredit HIT...

Austria - T-Mobile Austria launch FairPlay tariff including free SMS.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Austria has launched a new tariff, just in time for the Christmas sales period, called FairPlay Plus. The service includes 1,000 free call minutes to all Austrian mobile and fixed networks plus 1,000...

Finland - Sonera revamps mobile broadband services in Finland.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Sonera has revamped its mobile broadband services offered on its mobile network. From November, flat-rate mobile broadband access of 1 Mbps will be included in the My Sonera subscription available for consumer...

Germany - T-Mobile, Apple unveil iPhone tariffs in Germany.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Germany and Apple have confirmed the mobile tariffs that will be offered in combination with the Apple iPhone, which is available from 9 November. Customers will be able to choose from three tariffs:...

Western Europe - KPN Q3 revenues flat, profit up slightly.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Dutch operator KPN reported third-quarter revenues unchanged from a year earlier, at EUR 3.037 billion. The figure includes EUR 30 million from selling real estate; revenues were otherwise down 0.7 percent....

Germany - E-Plus operating profit grows 80%, 14.1 million customers.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) KPN's German mobile subsidiary E-Plus saw its revenues and other income grow by 1.2 percent during the third quarter of this year compared with the third quarter of 2006, driven by the new brands on the E-Plus...

France - Cinven gets offers for up to 35% of Numericable - report.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Several investment funds have made offers to buy up to 35 percent of French cable operator Numericable from UK fund Cinven, writes Les Echos. A first attempt to buy half of Cinven's 70 percent stake was aborted...

Portugal - Sonaecom net profit jumps to EUR 7.6 mln in Q3.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Portuguese operator Sonaecom has reported net profit of EUR 7.6 million for the third quarter, up from EUR 2.2 million in the same period last year thanks to a tax benefit of EUR 4.2 million in the quarter....

Norway - Telenor adopts incentive share programme for employees.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Mobile operator Telenor's board of directors has adopted a new long-term incentive programme for Telenor managers and a share programme for all employees of Telenor. The Long-Term Incentive programme has a...

Italy - Sky Italia TV channels added to Vodafone UMTS services.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone Italia has signed an agreement with Sky Italia to extend to Vodafone live! UMTS mobile phones the transmission of the mobile TV service Vodafone Sky TV. This new agreement is in addition to the one...

France - Numericable offers Netgear wireless cable voice gateway.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French cable operator Numericable has started offering its internet customers the CVG834G wireless cable voice gateway from Netgear. Numericable president Philippe Besnier said the gateway was chosen because it...

Slovenia - Slovenia to get 3rd mobile operator.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Slovenia is getting a new third mobile operator. Tusmobil will launch its mobile telephony operations on 30 November and is currently intensively building its own network. Until the network is competed, it...

Germany - Deutsche Telekom, Israeli start-ups show cooperation results.
October 30, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) At Innovation Day in Berlin, Israeli start-ups and Deutsche Telekom presented the first results of their successful collaboration. Deutsche Telekom board member Hamid Akhavan emphasized the significant role that...

Switzerland - Swisscom Mobile launches mobile memo service.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Swisscom has introduced a memory service for its mobile customers, called Memo Number. Swisscom Mobile customers can the Memo Number and leave a personal recording plus a time that the personal reminder has to...

Germany - Escaline holds 90.89 percent of PrimaCom shares.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Luxembourg company Escaline announced the successful completion of the additional acceptance period of its all-cash voluntary public tender offer for German cable network operator PrimaCom. At the end of 23...

Portugal - Tele2 fined for not de-activating clients.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Portuguese telecom operator Tele2 has been fined EUR 25,000 by national telecom regulator Anatel for not respecting the time frame for switching off clients. The problems affected around 30,000 clients. Anatel...

France - Pagesjaunes revenues up 4.1% to EUR 314.1 mln in Q3.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French directory inquiries group PagesJaunes reported a turnover up 4.1 percent to EUR 314.1 million in the third quarter, thanks to the dynamism of its internet operations. The company's performance was thus...

Romania - Zapp to launch 3G in second quarter of 2008 - CEO.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Romanian mobile operator Telemobil, using the Zapp brand, will launch 3G services during the second quarter of 2008, covering 19 cities around Romania, according to Romanian newspaper Nine O'Clock ciitng...

Czech Republic - Vodafone Czech Republic unveils business promotion.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone Czech Republic has unveiled the details for its Christmas promotion for business customers. From 1 November 2007 to 31 January 2008, Czech businesses receive free calling and SMS receiving, if they...

Hungary - T-Mobile Hungary reports growing mobile internet use.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Hungary reports a growing number of mobile internet users, who also spend more time online with their mobile device. Compared with January of this year, the mobile broadband network is used almost three...

Italy - Vodafone Italia signs agreement with Touring Club Italiano.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone Italia and Touring Club Italiano have reached an agreement that will enable the members of the most popular Italian tourist association to benefit from special promotions. Vodafone is offering all TCI...

France - SFR shortlists two billing platform groups - report.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French mobile operator SFR is set to choose among two consortia to rebuild its billing platform and part of its customer offer management system, writes Les Echos. According to unnamed sources, the first group...

Switzerland - Novartis signs IT outsourcing, network deal with BT.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Switzerland-based pharmacuticals manufacturer Novartis has signed an IT outsourcing agreement with BT, according to Swiss newspaper the Sonntagszeitung. The deal is valued at USD 500 million and was confirmed...

France - Orange France, Apple put pressure on parallel iPhone vendors.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Orange France said it would reserve the right to take legal action to guarantee its exclusive deal with Apple over iPhone sales in France, as "several retailers are offering the touchscreen handset with...

Italy - Cedacri selects Cisco data centre infrastructure in Italy.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Cedacri, an IT provider for financial institutions in Italy, has chosen a Cisco data centre infrastructure to target new customers in Milan. The Cisco technology will enable Cedacri to deliver services to...

Germany - DB expects at least EUR 649 mln for Arcor stake - report.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The CEO of the German railways Deutsche Bahn, Hartmut Mehdorn, expects Vodafone to offer more than EUR 649 million for Deutsche Bahn's stake in Vodafone's German fixed network operator Arcor, reports German...

Spain - Amper sees Q3 net profit fall to EUR 3.95 mln.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) IT firm Amper had EUR 3.95 million net profit in Q3 2007, down 21.2 percent from EUR 5 million in the year-earlier period, reports Cinco Dias. Revenue was EUR 195.25 million, up 39 percent from EUR 140.46...

Italy - Abertis may set up mobile masts for Wind, 3 Italia.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Spanish infrastructure firm Abertis has been chosen to take part in a contest in Italy to set up 18,500 mobile phone masts for Wind and 3 Italia, reports Cinco Dias. Abertis is seeking a local partner for the...

Netherlands - Dutch consumers satisfied with digital TV - survey.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Dutch consumers are in general happy with digital TV services, according to a survey of some 1,300 users by the consumers union. Some 71 percent say they are satisfied versus just 8 percent unsatisfied....

Italy - 3 Italia may sell over 30 percent stake in company.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) After shelving plans for a stock market listing, Hutchinson Wampoa is seeking another way to recover its investment in mobile operator 3 Italia. One of the options being considered is the sale of a share higher...

Germany - Freenet expands FreenetKomplett availability to 800 cities.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German telecommunication services provider freenet has expanded its unbundled DSL services to more than 800 cities around Germany. Households in those cities can order FreenetKomplett, which offers a DSL...

Germany - German online shopping revenues to reach EUR 17 billion.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The German online revenues for home shopping companies are expected to grow by 9 percent to EUR 10.9 billion during this year compared with 2006, good for 39.5 percent of all home shopping revenues, according to...

Norway - Norway telecom market grows 1% in H1.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The Norwegian telecommunications market was worth NOK 14.849 billion in the first half of 2007, up just 1 percent from a year earlier as growth in mobile and broadband was offset by continued declines in fixed...

Greece - Wind launches ADSL service in Greece.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Greek mobile operator Wind has launched ADSL and fixed-line services. The company is using the network of ISP Tellas, of which it recently acquired majority control, to offer broadband at up to 12 Mbps. It will...

Germany - E-Plus makes Zehnsation more accessible for prepaid users.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) E-Plus lowers the call credit activation cap for its Zehnsation prepaid customers from EUR 30 to EUR 20. From 1 November, Zehnsation prepaid customers only have to top their call credit with EUR 20 instead of...

Europe - ETNO continues opposition to functional separation.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The European Telecommunication Network Operators association has again called for the European Commission to drop its proposal for new rules on functional separation of network operators. In a statement from...

Ireland - Tesco Mobile launches in Ireland.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Supermarket Tesco and O2 have extended their UK MVNO agreement to Ireland. Tesco Mobile will start offering prepaid servcies from 29 October, at EUR 0.20 per minute for calls to any network and text messages at...

Portugal - Clix launches ad campaign for mobile internet service.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Clix, unit of Sonaecom, has unveiled an ad campaign to promote the launch of the Clix mobile internet service. The campaign includes 20 TV spots (also broadcast on the Clix portal), 17 radio spots and over 60...

Germany - HSWcom launches dual SIM phone in Germany.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German telecom service provider HSWcom has launched a mobile phone with dual SIM card functionality on the German market. The DST 11 Black Hill is manufactured by US manufacturer General Mobile and enables users...

France - Iliad Q3 sales up 29.4 percent, driven by Free broadband.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French telecommunications group Iliad reported a turnover up 29.4 percent to EUR 307 million in the third quarter, compared with EUR 237.2 million in the year-earlier period. Iliad added 141,000 net customers in...

Germany - Simyo to lower minute fee to EUR 0.099 soon - E-Plus CEO.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) E-Plus plans to decrease the minute fees for its mobile discount service simyo in response to the introduction of Bildmobil, reports German magazine Focus citing E-Plus CEO Thorsten Dirks. Dirks said that...

Lithuania - Teo provides electronic bills in SEB Banka's banking system.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Lithuanian operator Teo will now provide electronic bills in the online banking system of SEB Vilniaus Bankas, Lithuania's commercial bank. Teo customers using this system will have the possibility to find...

Italy - TIM launches DVB-H promotion.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) TIM is offering customers with a DVB-H phone who activate the Prova TIM TV offer free TV and football service for 30 days. The promotion runs until the end of June 2008. The TIM TV service currently provides...

Belgium - Mobistar CEO to step down by year end.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Belgian cellular network operator Mobistar's CEO, Bernard Moscheni, will step down from the company before the end of the year.The 50.2 percent France Telecom susbsidiary will be headed by Werner De Laet, its...

Germany - Combots to stop offering web-based communication service.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German web-based communications service Combots published its results for the third quarter of this year and announced that it will discontinue the operationof its web-based communication service and to no...

Malta - Vodafone Malta makes management appointments.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone Malta has appointed Joseph Muscat as head of Mobile Plus. Muscat, who held the position of Vodafone Malta's chief technology officer until recently, joined Vodafone Malta in 1990 as engineering and...

Slovenia - Slovenia shortlists seven in sale of Telekom Slovenije.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Slovenia has shortlisted seven candidates for the second round of the sale of 49.13 percent of majority state-owned Telekom Slovenije, the economy ministry said. Out of the 12 original bidders, the following are...

Germany - Simyo starts offering EUR 0.099 minute fee.
October 29, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) E-Plus' discount brand Simyo will start offering a minute fee of 0.099 from 4 December. On the same date, sending SMS with Simyo will cost EUR 0.099 per message as well. The mobile data tariff of EUR 0.24 per 1...