Europe Intelligence Wire articles from September 2007

Europe Intelligence Wire archives from September 2007

Austria - Telekom Austria equips press centres for Pope's visit.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Telekom Austria has installed the complete telecommunications infrastructure at press centres in Vienna and Mariazell to allow an expected 1,000 journalists to cover the 3-day visit of Pope Benedict XVI from 07...

Austria - Tele2 Austria upgrades to ADSL 2+, unveils new tariffs.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Tele2 Austria has deployed ADSL 2+ technology to provide a flat-rate with download speed of to 20 Mbps for all broadband customers on its network from 03 September. It is offering download speeds of up to 20 Mbps...

Germany - EWE TEL adds ADSL 2+ to business DSL services.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German regional operator EWE TEL has launched ADSL 2+ services for its EWE TEL and Nordcom business DSL customers. The ADSL 2000 flat service costs EUR 20.90 per month and offers an upload speed of up to 192...

Germany - Freenet cuts cost of technical support helpline by 20%.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German operator Freenet has lowered the per-minute call price for its 0900 technical support helpline with effect from 01 September. Calls to the technical support helpline will now cost EUR 0.99 per minute from...

Netherlands - XS4ALL introduces flat-fee VoIP subscriptions.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Dutch ISP XS4ALL has introduced two flat-rate VoIP calling plans. Flat Fee Small costs EUR 12.50 per month for unlimited fixed-line calls in the Benelux. New customers to the Small subscription signing up before...

Germany - Debitel Germany launches child poverty campaign.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German mobile services provider Debitel has launched a charity drive to help children living in poverty. The campaign has been launched in co-operation with champion swimmer Britta Steffen and the German Child...

Portugal - Vodafone tells Sonaecom to free up space in PT exchanges.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone has reiterated its opposition to Sonaecom's takeover of Tele2 Portugal. According to the mobile operator, Portugal's competition authority the AdC has issued a draft opinion clearing the takeover with no...

Germany - T-Com selects ADB set-top boxes for IPTV trial.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Germany's T-Com Innovation has selected digital TV systems and software provider Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) to supply its ADB-3810TW series set-top boxes for a new project and consumer trial of an internet...

Switzerland - McDonald's, Orange offer free WLANs in restaurants.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) McDonald's is offering 30 minutes of free wireless internet access per day to customers in its 144 restaurants in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, according to an announcement on its Swiss website. The service is...

Czech Republic - Telefonica O2 CR unveils new mobile data tariffs.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Telefonica O2 Czech Republic (Telefonica O2 CR) has launched a new range of mobile data tariffs for residential and business users. The Internet Mobil 1024 Plus tariff costs CZK 899 per month, the Internet Mobil...

Spain - N2S deploys PLC network for Hotel Convencion in Spain.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Spanish operator New Network Solutions (N2S) has deployed a Power Line Communications (PLC)-based internet network at the Hotel Convencion in Madrid, Spain, according to Pablo Fernandez de la Torre, N2S chairman,...

Germany - Phone House Germany exits service provider market.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Carphone Warehouse's German subsidiary The Phone House has announced plans to abandon the mobile service provider market. In future, it will only offer mobile products on a resale basis. It has signed a resale...

France - OnMobile to acquire Voxmobili for INR 1.5 bln - report.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) India-based VAS provider OnMobile will acquire France-based telecom services company Voxmobili for about INR 1.5 billion. According to a report from the Economic Times, the acquisition will enable OnMobile to...

Finland - Digita, TeliaSonera sign wireless broadband agreement.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) TeliaSonera Finland and mobile, radio and TV network operator Digita have signed an agreement to provide wireless broadband services over Digita's @450 broadband network. A pilot service was conducted between...

Eastern Europe - CME secures USD 110 million investment.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) TV broadcasting group Central European Media Enterprises (CME) has announced that Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky has acquired 1.28 million shares of its Class A Common Stock for USD 110 million. The shares...

Finland - Finland swaps to all-digital terrestrial TV in September.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Finland will switch over to all digital terrestrial TV broadcasts on 01 September as five analogue transmission networks are switched off. Households receiving TV broadcasts through an antenna will require a...

Germany - Unitymedia revenues grow 28% to EUR 183 million.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German cable network operator Unitymedia reports revenues of EUR 183 million for the second quarter of this year, growing 28 percent compared with EUR 142 million in Q2 2006. The EBITDA also grew, by 19 percent...

Germany - Pironet NDH posts record EBIT for first half.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German network solutions provider Pironet NDH has reported revenue of EUR 26.7 million for first half 2007. Revenue was up 23 percent year-on-year to EUR 12.3 million in Q1 and up 38.5 percent to EUR 14.4 million...

Europe - LG expects increased sales in Europe boosted by handsets.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Korean electronics manufacturer LG Electronics aims more than USD 10 billion in European sales in 2010, the Korean Overseas Information Service writes citing James Kim, head of LG Electronics Europe. Sales from...

Netherlands - KPN launches new business ICT services.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Dutch operator KPN is introducing new business ICT services. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the company has introduced an online document sharing service, KPN Documenten Delen Online. Documents are...

Switzerland - Switch to discontinue Swiss ENUM registry trial.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Swiss domain registrar and ISP Switch has announced plans to discontinue the ENUM trial in Switzerland with effect from 30 September. It has been acting as the registry for the ENUM trial in Switzerland for the...

France - Radio listening on mobiles proves popular in France - survey.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Two-thirds of French people with an FM-radio enabled mobile phone use it to listen to the radio, and half of them do so at least once a week, according to a July internet survey for radio group NRJ. The survey...

Netherlands - Tele2 starts anniversary marketing campaign in Netherlands.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Tele2 Netherlands is starting a marketing campaign to mark its 10-year anniversary. The official birthday is 31 October, but the operator will be using the next ten weeks to highlight the milestone. For new...

Ireland - Meteor launches lower rates for roaming in EU.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Meteor is launching reduced roaming rates for all Meteor customers when roaming within the EU, effective 30 August. Meteor customers will be charged a maximum EUR 0.59 per minute to make a call and EUR 0.29 per...

Czech Republic - Telefonica O2 CR adds new content to O2 Active portal.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Telefonica O2 Czech Republic (Telefonica O2 CR) has announced new mobile content services for users of the O2 Active mobile information and entertainment portal in September. It is offering new mobile content...

Austria - T-Mobile Austria shifts customers to new EU rates.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Austria is automatically switching all T-Mobile and Tele.ring customers to the new EU rates, effective 31 August. With the transfer, all customers can call any EU member state for 0.58 cents per minute...

Croatia - T-Com Croatia unveils Free Time tariff for residential users.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Fixed-line operator T-Com Croatia, a T-Hrvatksi Telekom company, will launch the new 'Free Time' service on 01 September. This will allow customers to make calls at more favourable rates within the T-Com national...

Netherlands - T-Mobile NL outsources IT to T-Systems.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Netherlands has signed an outsourcing agreement with sister company T-Systems. From 1 September, T-Systems will handle all IT operations for the mobile operator and take over the associated 60 staff. The...

Germany - T-Online Germany upgrades mobile internet portal.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) ISP T-Online Germany will present the T-Online mobile portal with additional content, a new customer log-in and enhanced payment system at IFA 2007. The enhanced mobile portal has a newly integrated toolbox that...

Netherlands - KPN starts EUR 500 mln share repurchase.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Dutch operator KPN is starting a new share buyback programme worth EUR 500 million. The company has already repurchased shares worth EUR 1 billion this year, completing its previous programme last week. Since...

Netherlands - Adaptive Planet starts NFC trial in Breda.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Adaptive Planet is working as systems integrator on a new near-field communications trial in Breda. Partners on the project are RFCyber and Michale Letterer-PM&C, while the companies are using Nokia mobile phones...

Poland - TP issues bonds worth PLZ 189 million, PLZ 128 million.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) issued bonds worth PLZ 189 million on 30 August. Of this total, TP Emitel acquires PLZ 106 million of bonds with a redemption date of 10 September. PTK Centertel acquires bonds worth...

Netherlands - Telfort launches mobile internet plan at The Phone House.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Dutch mobile operator Telfort has started offering a flat-rate mobile internet plan at The Phone House outlets. The partners claim the offer of EUR 29.95 per month is some 50 percent cheaper than existing plans...

Switzerland - Swisscom Mobile to cut charges of calls within Europe.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Swisscom Mobile will introduce a major cut in the cost of phone calls within Europe, starting from 22 September. All subscription and prepaid customers will automatically benefit from the new rates; there is no...

Bulgaria - Vivatel launches Tanka tariff for new customers.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Bulgarian mobile operator vivatel will launch the new 'Tanka' (Thin) tariff on 03 September, offering all new customers 100 on-network call minutes a month for BGN 5 per month. Customers must sign a 24-month...

Germany - Deutsche Telekom to withdraw from Schools online initiative.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The German association for internet for schools, Schulen ans Netz, will have to do without the support of Deutsche Telekom, according to German newspaper General anzeiger, citing a spokes woman from the telecom...

Germany - Consumer organisations wants privacy protection for digital.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The German federal consumer protection organisation vzbv has warned for the possibility that digital TV and radio users will not be anonymous any more and has asked for measures to ensure anonymity for them. With...

Belgium - BASE launches unlimited plan Platinum.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Belgian mobile operator BASE has launched a new unlimited calls plan called Base Platinum. Customers get unlimited fixed and mobile calls in Belgium for EUR 120 per month. The plan is subject to a fair use policy...

Germany - German DSL subscribers grow to 16.57 million on 30 June.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) During the second quarter of this year, German DSL services provider have won around 720,000 new customers, increasing the total German DSL customer base to 16.57 million on 30 June, according to DSLweb. Deutsche...

France - Orange France pre-premieres France 2 show.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Orange France is offering Orange TV customers and visitors to Orange.fr the chance to see the first episode of a new France 2 TV show " Fais pas ci, fais pas ca" one week before its airs on 8 September on France...

Croatia - T-Mobile Hrvatska unveils pre-paid SMS promotion.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Croatian mobile operator T-Mobile Hrvatska has launched the 'Simpa Poruke' option for its Simpa pre-paid customers, allowing them to send 500 free text messages within the T-Mobile Hrvatska network at a cost of...

France - Aastra Matra supplies IP system to Dijon local government.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Aastra Matra has supplied an IP telephony system to the city of Dijon, France, covering 40 sites and around 2,500 terminals. The deployment by Aastra Matra partner Ineo Com, includes two NeXspan Communication...

France - Thomson to supply HD equipment for 2007 Rugby World Cup.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French consumer electronics group Thomson will supply most of the HD equipment being used by French television network TF1 for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Thomson products will be used for all technical services...

Germany - Kabel Deutschland open for new bid for PrimaCom.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) is still planning to launch an acquisition offer for German cable network operator PrimaCom, despite an earlier announcement by the German federal cartel...

France - Dailymotion raises USD 34 million.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French video sharing website Dailymotion announced that it has raised USD 34 million in a second funding round to continue its development. The investors are Advent Venture Partners, AGF Private Equity, CIC and...

Portugal - TMN offers goals and football results free of charge.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Until 30 September, Portuguese mobile telephony operator TMN will offer, free of charge, the most interesting moments of the Champions League, Portuguese League and Portuguese Cup. Via free SMS and MMS messages,...

France - Bouygues to choose ADSL wholesaler by end-September.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom will choose its ADSL infrastructure provider before the end of September ahead of a consumer internet service launch in 2008, writes Les Echos, citing company CEO Philippe...

Europe - Deutsche Telekom is always interested in mobile buys - CEO.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann has said that he expects the European mobile markets to see more consolidation and that Deutsche Telekom is on the look-out for interesting acquisitions in an interview with...

France - French broadband subscribers hit 14.25 million - regulator.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) There were 14.25 million high-speed internet subscribers in France at the end of June, up from 13.5 million at the end of March, according to telecommunications regulator Arcep. Within the total, the number of...

Ireland - Irish govt shortlists 4 firms for broadband scheme.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) The Irish government has shortlisted four candidates for its scheme to bring broadband services to underserved areas. The four candidates for the next stage of the National Broadband Scheme are BT Ireland,...

Germany - E-Plus restructures mobile data tariff portfolio.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) E-Plus has restructured its mobile data tariff portfolio, offering three mobile data flatrates and one BlackBerry tariff. E-Plus Internet Flatrate Private offers unlimited mobile data usage via GPRS/UMTS for EUR...

France - Iliad increases H1 net profit by 34.6% to EUR 78.9 mln.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French telecommunications group Iliad made a net profit up 34.6 percent to EUR 78.9 million in the first half, compared with EUR 58.6 million in the first half of 2006. EBITDA rose by 36.6 percent to EUR 205.6...

Western Europe - Tiscali raises capital hike to up to EUR 220 mln.
September 3, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) ISP Tiscali's shareholders have empowered its board of directors to execute a capital increase for a maximum of EUR 220 million by 31 December 2008. This will increase the maximum amount of EUR 200 million...

Europe - AT&T wins enterprise hosting contract from Air Products.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) AT&T has won a three-year, multimillion US dollar enterprise hosting contract from Air Products. Air Products has chosen to migrate its own data centre in southern England to AT&T's Internet Data Centre (IDC) in...

Austria - Mobilkom Austria launches commercial NFC services.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Mobile operator Mobilkom Austria has announced the launch of commercial Near Field Communications (NFC) services following a successful trial in Upper Austria. The services are provided in co-operation with NXP...

Europe - Cardpoint in talks to merge with Alphyra.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) UK based cash point services provider Cardpoint has confirmed it's in talks on a possible merger with Dublin-based electronic payments group Alphyra. Recent press reports have suggested that AIM-listed Cardpoint...

Germany - Star Finanz launches StarMoney Handy mobile tariff.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) German banking group Sparkassen will launch its 'StarMoney Handy' mobile phone tariff on 05 September through online banking subsidiary Star Finanz. The service uses the D-network of Vodafone Germany. It allows...

Germany - Over 62% of Germans have internet access - study.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) A total of 40.8 million or 62.7 percent of Germans aged 14+ have internet access, according to the 2007 Online Study from ARD/ZDF. A total of 2.2 million new users have been added over the last 12 months, with...

Slovakia - Telefonica O2 Slovakia offers flat-rate post-paid plan.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Mobile operator Telefonica O2 Slovakia has launched the 'O2 For Me' post-paid tariff plan that offers bundled packages of flat-rate calls regardless of time of day, number or network called. It allows customers...

Croatia - Croatia's T-HT launches public offering of shares.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Croatia's Hrvatske telekomunikacije (T-HT) has announced the citizens can sunmit offers to buy T-HT shares between 17 and 27 September. They can submit offers to buy shares with priority rights (up to HRK 38,000)...

Scandinavia - Baltic Data Centre to manage DnB Nord's IT infrastructure.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) IT service provider Baltic Data Centre, a member of TEO Group, and HP will implement and maintain IT infrastructure for DnB Nord's finance group. The bank's IT infrastructure, which will connect the group's banks...

Netherlands - AMS-IX extends network contract with euNetworks.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) European fibre network operator euNetworks has expanded its existing agreement with AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange). EuNetworks will provide an integrated co-location and private fibre network service to...

Netherlands - T-Mobile NL starts loyalty discount for business users.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) T-Mobile Netherlands is starting a loyalty programme for business customers. Business customers with at least five staff will receive a 1 percent discount on their usage costs every six months as part of the...

France - Viadeo raises EUR 5 million.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French business social network company Viadeo has secured a second financing round of EUR 5 million from AGF Private Equity and Ventech. The two backers had already provided EUR 5 million in June 2006 and the...

Benelux - Scarlet turns to positive EBITDA in H1.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Belgian and Dutch operator Scarlet reported a move to positive EBITDA in the first half of 2007, helped by staff reductions and cost control efforts. The company posted EBITDA of EUR 8.7 million, excluding...

Spain - Telefonica seeks more freedom in tariffs.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Telefonica has asked the CMT, Spanish telecommunications regulator, for more freedom in setting tariffs in areas of Spain where the company competes with cable firms, reports Expansion. Julio Linares, director...

Romania - Romanian regulator imposes fines on RCS & RDS.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Romania's National Regulatory Authority for Communications and Information Technology (ANRCTI) imposed two administrative fines and one contravention fine on RCS & RDS in August. It has imposed a contravention...

Spain - Vodafone Spain head criticises 'proliferation of regulators'.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Vodafone Spain's head, Francisco Roman, has criticised the 'proliferation of regulators' in Spain, and the effect that their directives are having on telecommunications competition, reports Cinco Dias. Sometimes...

Spain - Yoigo seeks GSM spectrum from Spanish govt.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Spanish mobile phone operator Yoigo has made a claim to the Spanish government for the latter to concede 5MHz of a GSM spectrum, to complement the company's UMTS spectrum, reports Cinco Dias. The claim was made...

Switzerland - Netstream lowers fixed to mobile minute fees.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Swiss ISP Netstream has lowered the minute fees for calls to Swiss mobile networks for its call-by-call and pre-selection services on 1 September. Calls to Swisscom Mobile during the peak hours now cost CHF 0.35...

Greece - ON Telecoms launches new phone, internet, TV packages.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Greek operator ON Telecoms is launching new services. It has completed its Metropolitan Fibre Network in Athens and Piraeus and is now expanding the network to the rest of the country. From 03 September,...

Sweden - Telia to launch Telia Home Free service in Sweden.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) TeliaSonera has announced the Telia Home Free service in Sweden combining fixed and mobile telephony. The service integrates the mobile phone with residential telephony to function as an ordinary wired phone in...

France - Minister wants all DTT channels offered in HD by 2012.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French culture and communication minister Christine Albanel has declared her preference that frequencies freed up by the switch to digital TV will enable the development of new audiovisual uses, writes Les...

France - Canal Plus aims to double visitors to upgraded website.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French broadcaster Canal Plus will launch a new version of its website in the middle of September, intended to double its number of visitors (currently 1.5 million per month) within a year. Les Echos writes that...

France - Neuf Cegetel adds channels, multi-theme bouquets.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French alternative operator Neuf Cegetel has added 20 new channels and two multi-theme bouquets. Neuf already offers 70 channels within its 100% Neuf Box triple-play service. New bouquet "Neuf TV Selection",...

Netherlands - Amsterdam Citynet on track for completion in mid-2008.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Amsterdam's new fibre-to-the-home network CityNet is on track for completion by mid-2008, according to project contracter Draka Comteq. The comments were made by the company's marketing director Karel Helsen, who...

France - Neuf Cegetel introduces new Media Center.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French alternative operator Neuf Cegetel has introduced its new Media Center, a system included in the Neuf TV HD package that offers access via the TV set to all digital content stored on PCs, USB devices, the...

Europe - Orange France introduces traveller information service.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Orange Mobile France has introduced the Room Service Europe service, providing useful information to consumers and business customers when they are in Spain, Italy or the UK. The service is accessible via a...

France - Miyowa unveils MoveMessenger for Bouygues phones.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French instant messaging content and service provider Miyowa has developed its MoveMessenger. MoveMessenger is a mobile Java version of Windows Live Messenger, which has been launched by French mobile operator...

France - Orange Business Services launches new admin platform.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Orange Business Services has launched a new personalised, secure 'client space' allowing administrators to manage all convergent services from a single platform. These include mobility, internet and voice....

Switzerland - Swisscom expects negative impact of CHF 50 mln on revenues.
September 4, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Swisscom's new roaming fees within Europe will hit its revenues with a negative impact of CHF 50 million expected in 2008, Swisscom's head of the private client unit Christian Petit said in a telephone...

Finland - Salcomp EGM approves board members.
September 5, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Shareholders of Finnish mobile phone charger maker Salcomp have approved a new board of directors. The EGM re-elected Kari Vuorialho, Andreas Tallberg and Jorma Terentjeff as board members and elected Mats Heiman...

Czech Republic - Czech On Line chooses ITonis to launch video services.
September 5, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) Czech On Line, known under the brand name Volny, has chosen ITonis technology to launch Volny TV. The Czech On Line service is based on ITonis middleware, ITonis storage and ITonis streamer solutions. ITonis also...

France - Mobile Globe raises EUR 400,000 for international expansion.
September 5, 2007... (From Telecompaper Europe) French low-cost mobile phone operator Mobile Globe, the commercial brand of Inter-Mobile, has completed a EUR 400,000 funding round backed by investment company NTF Inter-Mobile. The investment company is made up...