NATEL :: Telecommunications (260)

The Economist: Telecommunications

Telecom Italia: Call waiting
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:17:23 -0000
Italy’s biggest telecoms firm faces an uncertain futureTHERE could not be a better warning of the risks of getting involved with Italy’s national phone company: in late February Telecom Italia said an investigation into alleged large-scale tax fraud and money-laundering involving Sparkle, its wholesale voice and broadband unit, and a rival broadband firm, Fastweb, had forced it to delay the announcement of its 2009 results by a month. The pair are thought to have become embroiled in a scam orchestrated by the Calabrian mafia. Meanwhile, discussions about Telecom Italia’s future are coming to a head, with Telefonica, Spain’s leading operator, expected to play a crucial role. In 2007, in the aftermath of two leveraged buy-outs which left Telecom Italia with a massive burden of debt, the government arranged for the Benetton family, Telefonica and a group of local financial institutions—Mediobanca, Intesa Sanpaolo and Generali—to take control of the operator. Telecom Italia’s controlling shareholder at the time, Pirelli, had been in serious talks about selling to America’s AT&T and Mexico’s America Movil, but the government had wanted to keep Telecom Italia in national hands. ...
Newspapers and technology: Network effects
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:02:54 -0000
How a new communications technology disrupted America’s newspaper industry—in 1845CHANGE is in the air. A new communications technology threatens a dramatic upheaval in America’s newspaper industry, overturning the status quo and disrupting the business model that has served the industry for years. This “great revolution”, warns one editor, will mean that some publications “must submit to destiny, and go out of existence.” With many American papers declaring bankruptcy in the past few months, their readers and advertisers lured away by cheaper alternatives on the internet, this doom-laden prediction sounds familiar. But it was in fact made in May 1845, when the revolutionary technology of the day was not the internet—but the electric telegraph.It was only a year earlier, in May 1844, that Samuel Morse had connected Washington, DC, and Baltimore by wire and sent the first official message, in dots and dashes: “WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT”. The second message sent down Morse’s line was of more practical value, however: “HAVE YOU ANY NEWS”. (There was no question-mark in Morse’s original alphabet.) As a network of wires spread across the country, referred to as “the great highway of thought” by one contemporary observer, it was obvious that this new technology was going to have a huge impact on the newspaper industry. But would the telegraph be friend or foe? ...

BBC News | Business | World Edition

China's exports see big increase
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:36:46 -0000
China's exports surged 46% in February, figures show, raising hopes of a strong recovery in global trade.
Insurers 'face $7bn Chile bill'
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:43:45 -0000
The earthquake in Chile may cost the global insurance industry as much as $7bn (£4.7bn), Swiss Re estimates.
Airlines offer to give up slots
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:16:02 -0000
British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia offer to give up take off and landing slots in London and New York, say EU watchdogs.

NYT > Business

China’s Exports Rise 46%
By SHARON LAFRANIERE Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:45:30 -0000
Economists said the data signaled a rebound in consumer demand in the U.S. and other Western markets.
European Leaders Call for Crackdown on Derivatives
By LYNNLEY BROWNING and MATTHEW SALTMARSH Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:05:39 -0000
The multiple, and at times seemingly conflicted roles, of investment banks like Goldman Sachs have also drawn scrutiny.
E.U. Signals Approval for Larger Airline Alliance
By JAMES KANTER Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:41:41 -0000
European antitrust regulators took a step toward approving an alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia.

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