Thames Tech Wire

3 Wins Appeal against "Significant Market Power" Ruling

Dublin -- In an unprecedented move, the Electronic Communications
Appeals Panel (ECAP) has annulled a recent ruling by ComReg, the
Irish telecommunications watchdog, that Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd.
(H3GI), the local subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison
Whampoa, enjoys "significant market power" (SMP) in Ireland. "The
onus is on the Regulator when carrying out its market analysis to
establish whether the Appellant (H3GI) has significant market power,"
ECAP said. "This means examining fully all the constituent elements
… all the relevant factors … this was not done." The decision is
remarkable insofar as it is the first time in history that a
telecommunications operator has successfully appealed against an SMP
designation by a national regulatory authority. Had the SMP label been
upheld, it would have allowed ComReg to fix 3's termination rates, the
fees it charges other operators to terminate calls on its network.
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New g2i Scheme to Help London Start-Ups Secure Funding

London -- The London Development Agency (LDA) announced that it
has backed a new £3-million gateway2investment scheme (g2i)
designed to increase the number of technology firms in London and
create closer links between entrepreneurs and the investor community.
Under the terms of the three-year programme, a group of companies led
by Grant Thornton will help London's technology start-ups to secure
venture-capital investments ranging between £50,000 and £2 million.
The free programme will offer start-ups one-to-one diagnostic
meetings, action-planning reviews and investor feedback, as well as
access to London's investment community. LDA said the scheme
would be of particular benefit to the IT, electronics,
telecommunications, energy, environment, science, engineering, new
materials, physical sciences and engineering and manufacturing sectors.
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BT to Acquire Infonet Deutschland for Undisclosed Sum

London -- BT Group Plc announced that it has agreed to acquire
Infonet Deutschland, a Germany-based technology company, for an
undisclosed sum. Infonet provides more than 200 major corporate and
public sector organisations with IP-based Virtual Private Networks,
Internet connectivity and Remote Access services. BT will acquire the
remaining 82% of the company that it does not already own from T-
Systems, the IT services subsidiary of German telecommunications
bellwether Deutsche Telekom AG. "This acquisition is a perfect fit as
we are further broadening our footprint in the German market," said BT
Germany CEO Jan Geldmacher. "Infonet is known for its strength in
product quality and customer service and this transaction will
complement BT's strengths in the market for networked IT services."
BT said it expected to close the deal within the next two months,
pending regulatory approval.
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DSG International Throws Hat into Internet Telephony Ring

London -- DSG International Plc (DSGI), the owner of High Street
retailers Dixons and PC World, has become the latest company to join
the increasingly competitive U.K. Internet telephony market after
launching its Freetalk service this week. Similar to a service launched
by U.S.-based Internet telephony firm Vonage in the U.K. four months
ago, Freetalk allows customers with broadband to make unlimited calls
to landlines by connecting a device to their phones -- unlike
GoogleTalk, BT Communicator and Skype, which can only be used
from a PC with a headset. DSGI, which has teamed with U.S.-based
8x8 to provide the connection between the Internet and the traditional
phone network, said it hoped to sign up more than a half million
Freetalk customers within the next 12 months.
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Apple Acknowledges iPod Nano Screen Manufacturing Flaw

San Francisco -- Apple Computer has acknowledged that a
manufacturing issue affecting a small number of its iPod Nano digital
music players causes their screens to crack easily and said that it would
replace the defective units. "This is a real but minor issue that involved
a vendor quality problem in a small number of units," Apple
spokesman Tom Neumayr told the Associated Press. "This has affected
less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total iPod Nano units that we've
shipped … it's not a design issue." On a website called
FlawedMusicPlayer.com, a number of Nano owners have complained
that the devices' screens scratch too easily, to the point that they are
difficult to read. Apple rejected these claims, adding that the Nano is
made of the same polycarbonate plastic as other iPod models.
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http://www.flawedmusicplayer.com 

Arma Partners Appoints Vanessa Morphet as COO

London -- Arma Partners, a London-based independent corporate
advisory firm focusing exclusively on the technology sector, announced
that it has appointed Vanessa Morphet as its new chief operating officer
for both Europe and the U.S. Prior to joining Arma, Morphet worked
for eight years in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs,
where she was a member of the communications, media and technology
team. "Arma has now reached a size where we needed to put in place a
stronger management infrastructure," the company said. "(Morphet)
will provide invaluable support to the Partners as we continue to build
the presence and capabilities of the firm across Europe, the U.S. and
internationally."
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BT Group Hires C&W Veteran Emma Gilthorpe

London -- BT Group Plc announced that it has appointed Emma
Gilthorpe as director of equivalence and public affairs at the company's
newly created Openreach division. Gilthorpe, who worked for fierce
BT rival Cable & Wireless for 14 years, will be responsible for
ensuring that all of Openreach's processes and policies -- from how
service is delivered to how new systems and products are prioritised --
are fair and equivalent for all communication providers, BT said.
"Having lobbied for equivalence, I am clearly a passionate believer in
it," Gilthorpe said. "This role gives me the opportunity to put this belief
into practice and to ensure that Openreach delivers both the systems
and the behaviour the industry wants."
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ntl and BroadbandTV to Trail Digital TV Service

London -- U.K. cable TV provider ntl and BroadbandTV Group -- a
joint venture between interactive TV firms YooMedia and ICTV --
announced that they would being live testing of broadband interactive
digital TV programming and technology in the fourth quarter of 2005
after holding successful lab trials. The trial with ntl subscribers will
deliver Web-based Interactive programming to subscribers' existing
cable set-top boxes. "A huge amount of work has been undertaken with
ntl in the last year in order to integrate the Broadband TV technology
with their infrastructure and various set top boxes," said YooMedia's
Managing Director Neil MacDonald. "We are delighted to be entering
into consumer-facing trials with such a strong line-up of programming
content."
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VoiceAge Develops Audio Compression Technology

Stockholm -- VoiceAge, a U.S.-based developer of speech and audio
compression technology for mobile and Internet platforms, has
unveiled its new AMR-WB+ audio compression technology, developed
jointly with Finland-based Nokia and Sweden-based Ericsson for use
with RealNetworks's Helix digital media platform. The technology
delivers hi-fidelity sound quality for speech and music sent to mobile
phones at bit rates ranging from 7 kbps to 48 kbps. The Helix
technology has been adopted for use in mobile devices by
manufacturers including Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.
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Virgin Digital Teams Ups with Orb Networks

London -- Virgin Digital, the digital entertainment unit of U.K.-based
Virgin Group, announced that it has partnered with California-based
Orb Networks, a developer of media delivery software. The companies
will collaborate on Virgin Digital Connector, a service that will allow
users to access streaming music and song files securely from any Web-
enabled device, including mobile phones, PCs and other wireless
devices. The Virgin Digital music service offers more than 2 million
tracks from 15,000 record labels.
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