Stories by Peter Sayer

Sagem Secures Mobile Phone Smart Card Payments

PARIS (08/09/2000) - French telephone and payment terminal manufacturer Sagem
SA has combined two of its business lines in one, with a mobile phone that also
contains a slot for a chip-based payment card.

Siemens to Outsource Mobile Phone Production

German equipment vendor Siemens AG is to outsource the
manufacture of 33 million mobile phones over three years to Singaporean
contract equipment maker Flextronics International Ltd., the companies
announced Thursday.

Caldera to Buy SCO Server and Service Units

PARIS (08/02/2000) - Linux developer Caldera Systems Inc. is to acquire the
server software and professional services divisions of The Santa Cruz Operation
Inc. (SCO), a provider of Unix operating systems, the companies announced
today.

France Télécom Buys Stake in Polish Carrier

PARIS (07/26/2000) - France Télécom SA is to acquire a 25 percent stake in
Polish telecommunications operator Telekomunikacja Polska SA (TPSA) for some
3.2 billion euros (US$3 billion), the French company announced Tuesday.

Lucent Earnings Growth Slows, Still Beats Hopes

PARIS (07/20/2000) - Lucent Technologies Inc. narrowly beat analysts'
expectations in the third quarter, with pro forma earnings of US$1.007 billion,
up 30 percent compared to a year ago. The company also revealed plans to spin
off its fast-growing microelectronics business.

ICO-Teledesic Gains US$315M in New Funding

PARIS (07/11/2000) - Craig McCaw's satellite telecommunications holding company
ICO-Teledesic Global Ltd. has rounded up about US$315 million in new
investments, including $100 million from Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief
Software Architect Bill Gates, ICO-Teledesic announced Tuesday.

France Télécom Faces New Competition in Local Loop

PARIS (07/11/2000) - The beginning of the end for France Télécom SA's
stranglehold on local telephone services in France came Tuesday, when the state
telecommunications regulator proposed to award nine companies licenses to offer
competing wireless local loop services.

Lloyd's of London Backs Insurance Against Hackers

PARIS (07/10/2000) - Security consultancy Counterpane Internet Security Inc. is
offering customers of its managed security monitoring service the savings of 20
percent to 40 percent on insurance against the risk of losing revenue or
critical information through network security breaches, the company announced
Monday.

Attendance Low at Dutch 3G Mobile License Auction

PARIS (07/06/2000) - At the last minute, two bidders pulled out of Thursday's
auction for licenses to operate third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications
networks in the Netherlands, leaving the five existing mobile network operators
and one newcomer chasing the five licenses.

Informix issues Q2 profit warning

US database and tools company Informix issued a profit warning Monday, predicting net income for the second quarter of one to three cents per share on revenue of between $US240 million and $250 million, well below analysts' expectations. Earnings of 12 cents per share were predicted in a consensus poll of six analysts conducted by First Call/Thomson Financial.

Bull renames software division, seeks alliances

French information technology conglomerate Groupe Bull SA plans to solve the problem of recruiting and retaining good programmers by offering them stock options in a newly-created software subsidiary, Evidian, it announced Tuesday.

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