The Olympic Committee has a long list of items [PDF] that spectators are prohibited from bringing to the games. Many of these things make sense - knives, firearms and ammunition, explosives, and illegal drugs, for example - but one item has caught the attention of tech-savvy sports fans: 3G wireless hotspots.
According to the rules, "smart devices" like Android phone, iPhones, and tablets will be permitted at Olympic venues. But they "must not be used as wireless access points to connect multiple devices."
At crowded events like the Olympics, concerts or major conferences, public Wi-Fi networks can quickly become overwhelmed and slow to a crawl with thousands of people trying to tap in. Hotspots, therefore, are an attractive alternative, essentially putting a personal Wi-Fi network in your pocket.
While they are convenient, hotspots will also eat up available bandwidth in the area, which likely prompted the ban. But there might be another reason. As GigaOm pointed out, BT is an official partner of the Olympic Games, and is offering paid access to its network at Olympic venues.
Olympics attendees can purchase 90 minutes of Internet access via BT for £5.99, 24 hours for £9.99, or five days for £26.99, GigaOm said. Existing BT customers can log in for free.
Of course, many smartphones can be turned into Wi-Fi hotspots for tethering purposes, but that depends on how the network is holding up.
The rules point out that "items too large to be electronically screened" are banned, so efforts to thwart the hotspot ban might get tripped up by airport-style screening methods.
What else is banned? No walkie-talkies, phone jammers, or radio scanners. Leave the laser pointers and strobe lights at home. Make sure your camera is compact; the committee is banning large photographic and broadcast equipment larger than 30cm in length, including tripods and monopods.
Published under license from Ziff Davis, Inc., New York, All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2012 Ziff Davis, Inc
France Telecom Revenue Exceeds Estimates Amid Iliad Rivalry - Bloomberg
France Telecom SA (FTE), the country’s largest phone company, reported a smaller-than-estimated decline in first-half revenue after price cuts helped slow customer defections to discounter Iliad SA (ILD) in France and on market-share gains in Spain from Telefonica SA. (TEF)
Sales fell 3.2 percent to 21.8 billion euros ($26.5 billion) from a year earlier, the Paris-based operator said today. That compares with the 21.7 billion-euro average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
France Telecom’s French wireless market share stabilized at about 38 percent last quarter. Iliad, which began selling mobile-phone subscriptions under the Free brand in January, scooped up 4 percent of the market in its first 80 days by distributing solely over the Internet and offering phones separately from contracts. Even in crisis-stricken Spain, France Telecom boosted revenue by 2.3 percent in the period.
“We’ve been progressively winning market share in Spain for a few quarters with prices about 15 percent lower than our rivals and a sophisticated marketing strategy,” Chief Financial Officer Gervais Pellissier said on a conference call.
France Telecom climbed as much as 3.2 percent to 10.59 euros and traded 1.5 percent higher as of 9:20 a.m. in Paris. The stock has lost 15 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 7.7 percent decline of the 23-company Bloomberg Europe Telecommunication Services Index.
Targets Confirmed
Telefonica yesterday reported a 13 percent slump in second- quarter revenue. Spain’s largest phone company suspended its dividend, cut a revenue forecast and slashed compensation for top executives.
France Telecom confirmed its target to generate an operating cash flow of about 8 billion euros this year after 4.5 billion euros in the first half. It also confirmed its plan to pay 40 percent to 45 percent of its 2012 operating cash flow as dividend.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped 8 percent to 7 billion euros, meeting analysts’ estimates.
“They’re really good numbers across the board,” said Will Draper, an analyst at Espirito Santo in London who recommends buying the shares. “They prepared better and earlier than people expected to face Iliad.”
Roaming Agreement
France Telecom is betting that consumers will pay a premium of 14 euros on average for its packages to receive handset subsidies and gain access to 1,200 stores as well as customer service. The unit makes 75 percent of its sales through two-year contracts.
The company has signed a six-year roaming agreement with Iliad, which France Telecom said would bring 1 billion euros in revenue in the first three years.
France Telecom has said it will continue subsidizing handsets to keep consumers. Elsewhere in Europe, rivals are reconsidering. In Spain, Telefonica stopped subsidizing mobile phones in March, while Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) has said it will do the same in the country.
The French operator isn’t considering any major acquisitions, though it would look at opportunities if the Spanish market were to consolidate, Pellissier said. TeliaSonera AB (TLSN) CEO Lars Nyberg said as recently as on July 18 that its Spanish unit Yoigo was for sale.
“If Yoigo was for sale, obviously we’d look at this opportunity,” Pellissier said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marie Mawad in Paris at mmawad1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
Alcatel to axe 5,000 jobs as battles downturn - Reuters UK
PARIS |
PARIS (Reuters) - Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA) will axe 5,000 jobs and exit or restructure unprofitable markets in a drive to cut costs by 1.25 billion euros (967.8 million pounds) by the end of next year as it battles stiff competition and weak demand.
The move comes after the Franco-American group warned last week it would miss its 2012 profit margin target and announced a second-quarter adjusted operating loss of 40 million euros.
The decision to cut 6.4 percent of the group's global workforce of 78,000 is a sign Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen believes bolder action is now needed to stem a plummeting share price and perennial problems like cash burn and high costs.
However, the proposals are more limited than rival's Nokia-Siemens Networks pledge to cut one-quarter of its staff, or 17,000 jobs, and sell a raft of fixed-network product lines to focus more narrowly on mobile equipment.
Alcatel is also embarking on the plan as major telecom operators are cutting back spending on network equipment in a faltering global economy and competition with Huawei Technologies HWT.UL and Ericsson (ERICb.ST) remains fierce.
Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said the plan was not ambitious enough given the group's challenges and wouldn't solve structural issues like its too-broad product range.
"On the contrary, the layoffs proposed will cost a lot of cash and risks accelerating the company's liquidity problems. We are more than ever in a situation where Alcatel risks not being able to refinance its needs in 2014," he said.
Shares in Alcatel were the worst performers on the French blue-chip CAC 40 index .FCHI in early trading, down some 7.5 percent. Its market value is about 1.9 billion euros.
Under Verwaayen, Alcatel finally reached its first annual profit since it was formed in the 2006 merger of Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies, but the CEO has not been able to deliver on a promised turnaround plan in full.
Verwaayen played down the idea Alcatel would sell off large chunks of its business, saying it wanted to remain a major equipment provider with a broad product portfolio.
"The emphasis today is not on asset sales but on a more focused approach to efficiency at the company," he said on a call with reporters. "But we do recognise that we cannot be all things to all people."
Alcatel shares have plummeted nearly 25 percent this year to reach their lowest point ever. In comparison, the European technology index .SX8P has risen 4.1 percent this year.
TOUGH CALL
Alcatel said it would seek to get rid of unprofitable services contracts in which it manages networks for operators, squeeze more money out of its patent portfolio, and exit or restructure in countries where it is weak.
No detail was given on where the job cuts would occur, nor what asset sales might be considered. Verwaayen told reporters on a conference call that job cuts would be "global" and would not include research and development staff.
Alcatel also gave a new annual profit target of posting a second-half adjusted operating margin better than the first half when it stood at minus 3.7 percent.
Asked whether he still hoped the company would be profitable this year, Verwaayen said: "This is a very difficult market to call ... We think the second half will be better than the first."
He added that weakness in demand was not limited to telecom operators in Europe and challenges were cropping up all over the world.
"The market conditions are pretty tough and we don't think the market will improve anytime soon," he said.
Alcatel confirmed its prior target of aiming for a "strong positive net cash position at the end of 2012".
($1 = 0.8248 euros)
(Editing by James Regan and Mark Potter)
France Telecom slows loss of custom - Financial Times
July 26, 2012 9:21 am
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