NL International Briefs

Italians and Brits oppose EU assistance for telecomThe British and Italian governments have agreed to form an alliance that would fight any move by the European Union to prop up the ailing telecom sector. Italy’s telecom minister Maurizio Gasparri is scheduled to meet with Britain’s Stephen Timms to discuss the matter. French government will offer assistance to France TélécomIndustry minister Nicole Fontaine announced the French government would take part in a recovery program for France Télécom. The assistance will involve a multi-faceted recapitalization plan. Telecom analyst admits falsifying AT&T rating to help bossJack Grubman, who recently resigned from the Salomon Smith Barney brokerage, has admitted raising the rating on AT&T Corp. stock to help his boss win a corporate battle. AT&T CEO Michael Armstrong sits on the board of Salomon parent Citigroup and Grubman hoped a favourable rating would sway Armstrong over to a position held by Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill. Panamanian government bans VoIP trafficPanama is strictly enforcing its ban on VoIP, ordering ISPs to block 24 user datagram protocol ports. Telecom services in the country are provided by Cable & Wireless Panama, whose exclusive contract expires in January. Pirelli tires of 2,400 telecom workers, hands out pink slipsItalian cable and tire manufacturer Pirelli is cutting 2,400 jobs due to the decline in the telecom market. The company, also noted for its sexy calendars, saw sales in its telecom cable section fall to EUR96 million (about $153.5 million) this year, down from last year’s EUR312 million (about $499 million). Deutsche Telekom posts record loss as investments crashDeutsche Telekom is setting new records with a nine-month loss of EUR5 billion (nearly $8 billion). Its full-year loss is expected to be EUR28 billion (almost $45 billion) as it writes down costly investments. Japan Telecom restates net profit forecast as business improvesJapan Telecom Holdings Co. raised its net profit forecast for this fiscal year to 65 billion yen (about $850 million). The company credited its six-month earnings of 43.5 billion yen (about $571 million) for the turnaround. Dutch Internet provider Iparix bankruptcy finalizedThe bankruptcy of Dutch ISP Iparix has been approved by the court of Amsterdam. The company, previously known as SkyberNet, had a glass fibre network connecting Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Take local loop away from BT, think tank declaresBritish think tank Demos is calling on the Labour government to take control of local networks away from British Telecom. The leftist group urges the establishment of a public-interest company to control local loop and thus spur broadband rollout. ICANN president wants new domain names createdStuart Lynn, president of the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, is urging the creation of three new domain names. Lynn did not specify what would be added to the roster of "dot-com", "dot-net" and the like, but advocates restricting their use to specific online communities. U.S. Supreme Court to hear telemarketing caseThe Supreme Court of the United States will hear the case of a telemarketing firm that kept 85% of all donations received. Fraud charges laid by the Illinois state government had been tossed out when a lower court ruled the issue was a free speech case, since the charity involved had agreed to the fiscal arrangement. China to experience the pleasure of "You’ve got mail"AOL has joined with Chinese PC manufacturer Legend to offer a pay Internet service in the Asian republic. The service, whose name translates as "Flying Dragon", has signed up several hundred test users in advance of a complete rollout.

NL International Briefs

News | November 19, 2002

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