A possible savior for Ireland's struggling and up-for-sale eircom has appeared in the shape of The Blackstone Group , according to a Reuters report citing the Irish Independent newspaper. Blackstone's asset management business is putting forward a debt restructuring plan this week with a view to a takeover, says the report. (See Lenders to Lean on Eircom.)
Hermann Hauser, the serial IT entrepreneur, has joined the board of Dublin-based Intune Networks , the optical burst system specialist. The move follows an initial investment in the business by Hauser in 2008. (See Hermann Hauser Joins Intune's Board and Intune Banks €17.5M.)
Telefónica Deutschland GmbH has decided to cease marketing Alice TV, its IPTV offering, reports the IPTV News website. It won't, however, be pulling the plug on those who already subscribe. Changing market conditions were cited as the reason for the decision.
And over in Taste-Lapse Central, the Daily Telegraph reports on the wheeze devised by U.K. ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, which thought it would be fun and interesting to use homeless people as pay-as-you-go Wi-Fi hotspots in and around the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Texas. Now if we could just get them to shin up those lampposts a bit to improve reception...
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading