After securing approval to open a Dublin-based finance operation, GERMAN car giant BMW hopes to lend up to €100m to the Irish market next year. Phillip Kelly, BMW’s Irish Financial Services manager said that Irish market for car financing was solid despite the recession. Kelly said that in the first ten days of work, over…
Category Archives: Regional News
EDF Announces its Strategy for UK Nuclear Expansion
France’s nuclear utility is expected undertake a project to construct two 1600MW EPR reactors at Hinkley Point, England, by the end of year. EDF has already committed £1billion over the next year to prepare the groundwork for the decision. In addition, EDF has decided to invest £100m in prolonging the lives of two of its…
Draka Continues Negotiations With Xinmao: Meanwhile, Prysmian Offer Progresses
Dutch cable manufacturer, Draka Holding NV (DRAK.AE), announced Wednesday it continues negotiations with China’s Tianjin Xinmao Science & Technology Investment Group, even though there is an agreed takeover offer from Italy’s Prysmian SpA is proceeding. The Amsterdam-based company said it will conduct a general meeting on Jan. 26 to deal with Prysmian’s EUR840 million takeover…
ProSiebenSat.1 May Sell TV channels
ProSiebenSat.1, A German media group, may be selling parts of its activities in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Belgium. Investment bank JP Morgen has been commission to evaluate what contributions the sales of various business areas could contribute, according to CEO Thomas Ebeling. The evaluation should determine which parts of the company would achieve “an attractive…
Backward-Compatible 3DTV Demonstrated
In Italy, a broadcast and technology consortium is demonstrating an over-the-air digital 3D TV system that is backward-compatible with 2D TV sets. Last week in Turin, the group announced the implementation of the system in Piemonte, a northern region of Italy. Participants included CSP Innovazione nelle ICT, Sisvel Profile and Quartarete TV, which is now…
Telecom Companies Sharpen Their Swords For Serbian Telecom Bid
France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, (Mexican) America Movil, Telekom Austria, (Russian) Weather investments, (Russian) Vimpelcom and Turkcell applied to participate in the bidding for 51 percent of Telekom Srbija, The deadline for bids is February 21, the finance ministry said. The Serbian government owns 80 percent of Telekom Srbija, and Greece’s OTE owns the other 20…
Big Internet Sites Should Pay For Users’ Data Needs According To European Mobile Operators.
Because the growth in smartphone use has made data demand soar, mobile networks demand that companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google pay for part of the network upgrades. The call from major operators, including Telecom Italia, France Telecom (Orange), and Vodafone, would require content providers to pay fees in proportion to the use of their…
Netherlands’ Connected TV Market Poised To Expand
According to GFK, in 2010, approximately 425,000 connected TVs have being sold in the Netherlands. In 2011, about 20 percent of televisions sold will be connected and in 2012, an estimated 40 percent of TV sets purchased will be connected. This equals about 1.2 million sets. In 2013, over 60 percent of Televisions sold will…
Italy’s Largest Pension Fund Signs UN PRI
Fondo Cometa, has become the first major Italian asset owner to agree to join the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The Fondo Cometa is Italy’s largest pension fund and manages €5.7 billion. Milan-based Cometa has approximately 470,000 members is the fund for metals industry workers. “We are proud to be the first Italian…
France Intends to Raise Eur2 Billion from Auctioning The LTE Licenses
French Industry Minister, Eric Besson has confirmed that France hopes to raise approximately US$2.7 billion (Eur2 billion) from the sale of LTE licenses in 2011. Besson said “We are relatively confident,” because “These [800Mhz] frequencies are of very, very high quality.” French Telecom has already begun testing LTE technology. Recently, the regulator has extended the…
