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Computers & Electronics 1996
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Deutsche Telekom is looking into the possibility of offering ISDN at £70 a connection in the UK, giving customers cheaper access to the internet than currently offered by British Telecom. 28-Dec-1996 The government has opened up the UK telecoms sector to foreign competition, one year ahead of other EU countries, in an attempt to establish the UK as a European communications hub. 20-Dec-1996 MMT Computing is acquiring Webbins, the provider of software to utilities, for up to £6.5m. 19-Dec-1996 Xavier Computer Group is to acquire CSL International for up to £3.2m. 19-Dec-1996 Network Technology is acquiring JRL Systems, the US technology company, for £3m. 18-Dec-1996 Symbionics is developing a mobile phone that works as a cordless handset in the home and as a cellular phone outside, and expects to start marketing it in two years time. 16-Dec-1996 British Telecom, in partnership with Tele-Danmark, has won a 49% stake in Newtelco, the telecoms system being laid along Swiss railway lines. 14-Dec-1996 ICL is planning to set up a WindowsNT centre of excellence in Manchester and is retraining about 200 engineers in NT technology, a move which will increase its reliance on Microsoft software. 11-Dec-1996 Interactive Media Services, the provider of automated telephone services, is planning to raise £5m in a flotation in order to fund an acquisition strategy that could take in internet service providers. 11-Dec-1996 Sage Group, the accounting software company, is still looking for acquisitions, preferably in the US or Germany. 11-Dec-1996 UUNet Pipex's software distribution operation has been acquired in a £2.7m buy-out, a move which will see the recreation of the Unipalm name as a company selling networking software for intranets. 10-Dec-1996 Firecrest, the advertising and internet products concern that was delisted from the Alternative Investment Market, is getting a US listing through a reverse takeover by Super Phone, a shell company. 10-Dec-1996 Cellnet is to invest £1bn in expanding its digital mobile phone network so that it covers 80% of the UK in five years time. 05-Dec-1996 British Aerospace has bought a 49% stake in STN Atlas Elektronik, the German defence electronics concern, for £104m. 05-Dec-1996 Calluna Technology is expected to announce a big expansion in output of miniature disk drives, funded by a £5m rights issue. 04-Dec-1996 SDX Business Systems, the telephone systems concern, is to raise £7m through a stock market placing in order to fund a reduction in borrowings. 04-Dec-1996 Stordata Solutions has acquired Fujitsu ICL's network division for £1.7m. 04-Dec-1996 British Telecom and MCI have filed an application for approval of their $20bn merger with the US Federal Communications Commission. 04-Dec-1996 MMT Computing has bought Cortex Computer Systems, which includes an 80% stake in ADG Computer Systems, for up to £6.5m. 03-Dec-1996 Tadpole Technology, the maker of notebook PCs, has set out a strategy for returning to profit which involves focusing its SPARCbook machines on three markets - as portable cad workstations, as a diagnostic tool for field engineers, and as demonstration machines for complex software. 30-Nov-1996 CBT, the Dublin software company, is acquiring Applied Learning, the Australian distributor of education software, in order to provide a base for expansion into the Pacific Rim. 29-Nov-1996 Internet Technology Group has signed an agreement with Microsoft which will which result in its Global Internet service provider supplying Microsoft's Internet Explorer software to subscribers. 28-Nov-1996 Cellnet is setting up GlobalRoam early next year, a service which will allow its digital phone customers to use their existing mobile phone numbers throughout the US. 26-Nov-1996 Coda has acquired SHS, the Icelandic software company that owns intellectual property rights to interactive business software using internet technology, for up to £2.1m. 26-Nov-1996 Open Systems Holdings, the US accountancy software concern, is planning to raise up to £2m with a flotation on Aim next month, and is also moving its headquarters to London and launching its products in the UK. 25-Nov-1996 Virgin Communications has launched Virgin Net in a joint venture with International CableTel of the US, which will offer internet access through retail outlets such as Virgin Megastores. 20-Nov-1996 SDX Business Systems, the digital systems designer, is planning a flotation next month in order to raise £7.5m to finance debt reduction and product development. 19-Nov-1996 Meteor Technology, the internet telephony concern, has agreed a deal with Camelot Corp of the US which will give it rights to distribute DigiPhone software worldwide except for North America. 16-Nov-1996 Psion, the hand-held computer maker, is planning to raise £14m in a share placing in order to continue to expand the business. 15-Nov-1996 Volex Group, the supplier of cable assemblies and interconnect products, is planning to set up a number of satellite plants in the US and is already building a new facility in California. 14-Nov-1996 The government is to give licences to 46 companies wanting to compete with British Telecom and Mercury in the international telecoms market, which will enable them to build and operate their own infrastructure rather than just lease lines. 13-Nov-1996 Memory Corporation, the designer of semiconductor memory products, has sold Memory Corp Russia to Process Insight. 12-Nov-1996 Future Integrated Technology, the telephone systems company, is planning a flotation on Aim in order to raise £3m to invest in its own computer systems. 12-Nov-1996 Phonelink is setting up a joint venture with Scottish Widows to develop the Tel-Me electronic trading platform. 08-Nov-1996 On-line, the internet and computer games company, is to raise £1.2m from a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market in order to help fund the development of Massively Multiplayer games for the internet. 08-Nov-1996 Align-Rite International of the US is to double production at its Bridgend plant which makes photo-masks for the semiconductor industry, by investing £11m and creating 200 jobs. 07-Nov-1996 Cadcentre Group, the Cambridge-based supplier of 3D CAD software, is to seek a full listing on the London Stock Exchange in order to raise about £7m to help fund international expansion. 04-Nov-1996 Sema, the Anglo-French computer services company, is to acquire Telis, the systems integration division of France Telecom. 31-Oct-1996 Lynx Holdings has bought Quadra Computer Services, the supplier of software to building societies, for an initial £2.66m. 31-Oct-1996 British Telecom is planning a £50m network of up to 10,000 touch-screen terminals, called Touchpoint, to enable the public to book flights and cinema tickets, order various products and read the news. 29-Oct-1996 Oxley Developments has acquired Beck, the supplier of circuitry for protecting electrical equipment from radio interference, for undisclosed terms. 29-Oct-1996 Logica has announced an agreement with Open Market of the US in which it will resell and supply systems integration services for Open Market's business software products throughout most of the world. 29-Oct-1996 British Telecom's Mobility Solutions Group is to start offering personal telephone numbers, a mobile fax service and a text-to-speech email service. 26-Oct-1996 Eidos, the computer games software concern, is planning to raise up to £45m through a listing on Nasdaq in order to fund new products and invest in development companies. 25-Oct-1996 The Dutch government is to award a licence to Telfort, a joint venture between British Telecom and the Dutch national railways, to provide fixed-line telecoms services in competition to KPN. 24-Oct-1996 Cable & Wireless has merged Mercury with three cable groups - Nynex CableComms, Videotron, and Bell Cablemedia - to create Cable & Wireless Communications, which will have access to 6m homes in four major franchise areas for cable TV. 23-Oct-1996 AVX of the US is planning a £46m upgrade of its ceramic capacitors plant in Coleraine in Northern Ireland in order to double production. 23-Oct-1996 Rebus is planning to acquire EPG, the administration software concern, for £11.8m, but the deal may be referred to the Office of Fair Trading. 23-Oct-1996 The government will next month announce plans to use the private sector to set up a Whitehall computer network to link various departments. 19-Oct-1996 Abacus Polar has lost its contract to distribute electronics components for Microchip of the US, an arrangement that has been contributing 4% of group sales. 18-Oct-1996 Superscape VR has agreed a deal to provide its Viscape 3D web browsing software in Microsoft's Internet Explorer kit. 16-Oct-1996 Research Machines, the supplier of computer services to schools, is setting up a joint venture with Virgin Net to provide its services through Virgin's internet service. 15-Oct-1996 Network Technology has acquired a 25% stake in Ringdale, the German connectivity products distributor. 15-Oct-1996 Nynex CableComms is planning to set up a virtual chamber of commerce for the Manchester area by linking about 400 companies with fast cable modems. 14-Oct-1996 Hyundai Electronics is planning to invest £2.4bn in the construction of two semiconductor plants at Dunfermline in Fife, creating 2,000 jobs. 09-Oct-1996 Internet Technology Group, the company formed from the reverse takeover of the Global Internet access provider, is to start trading on the Alternative Investment Market this week. 09-Oct-1996 Atlantic Telecom is preparing a share placing in order to raise £23m for the funding of a fixed radio access telephony business in Glasgow. 05-Oct-1996 Pegasus Group, the accountancy software company, has pulled out of takeover talks with Sage Group as it says that Sage's £31m offer is too low. 03-Oct-1996 Geo-Interactive Media, the Israeli company that has developed a new system for using real-time movie pictures on the internet, is to float on the Alternative Investment Market in order to raise up to £12m for an international marketing campaign. 30-Sep-1996 Interoute Telecommunications, the trader in differentials between competing telephony prices, is to join the Alternative Investment Market with a value of £50m in order to fund its expansion into France, Germany and the Netherlands. 28-Sep-1996 Airtech, the maker of mobile phone amplifiers, is to join the Alternative Investment Market with a value of £31m, in order to fund expansion and eliminate debt. 28-Sep-1996 British Telecom has acquired a 25% stake in Cegetal, the subsidiary of Generale des Eaux, for £1.1bn, as it aims to expand into the French market for fixed and mobile telecom services. 27-Sep-1996 British Telecom is linking up with News International to launch Springboard, a company that will offer an internet service for the home using material from News International's newspapers. 26-Sep-1996 The BBC is in discussions with ICL over the launch of an internet service which will feature information, educational material and entertainment. 19-Sep-1996 British Telecom is linking up with NS, the Dutch state railways, to set up a $590m fixed line telephone service for the Netherlands in competition with KPN. 19-Sep-1996 Easynet, the internet service provider, is to benefit from a new deal in which Microsoft will include access to the internet via Easynet in its Windows 95 operating system. 18-Sep-1996 British Telecom is to offer products from Intel in order to boost the UK market for desktop videoconferencing equipment. 14-Sep-1996 General Atlantic Partners of the US is acquiring a 20% stake in Mobile Systems International, the London-based consultancy for the design of wireless networks for mobile phones, for £36m. 13-Sep-1996 Hyundai of South Korea has postponed plans for a semiconductor plant in the UK due to falling prices for memory chips. 12-Sep-1996 Instem is acquiring Apoloco, the software house which specialises in the pharmaceutical and food industries, for £1.4m. 12-Sep-1996 Seagate Technology of the US is to set up a £68m factory to make substrates for computer disk drives in Limavady, Northern Ireland, with the creation of 759 jobs. 11-Sep-1996 First Information Group is to cut 80 jobs and stop in-house development of new CD-ROM software titles due to oversupply in the market. 10-Sep-1996 Psion has introduced two new handheld computers that feature infrared communications - the Siena and the Psion 3c. 09-Sep-1996 Pace Micro Technology has begun trialling a black box decoder with integral modem on behalf of three cable companies that are preparing for the launch of digital TV. 06-Sep-1996 Benelux Manufacturing, the Hong Kong floppy disk maker, is to close its Limavady plant in Northern Ireland with the loss of 100 jobs. 05-Sep-1996 Cray Electronics is restructuring into three business units - Anite Systems for software and services, Anite Networks, and Case Technology. 03-Sep-1996 Uunet Pipex has launched a new "secure shopping" system for the internet called The Bureau, with backing from the National Westminster Bank. 29-Aug-1996 Deltron Electronics, the components maker, is planning a flotation in autumn in order to raise up to £8m for expansion. 28-Aug-1996 Sage Group's proposed £27m takeover of Pegasus, its rival accounting software company, may be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission following an investigation by the OFT. 28-Aug-1996 Airtech, the mobile communications concern, is planning a flotation on Aim in October in order to raise £10m for expansion in the US and UK. 27-Aug-1996 British Telecom has cut the price of its ISDN2 high speed data service for small businesses, but the move is likely to attract charges of anti-competitive tactics from competitors. 22-Aug-1996 Hewlett-Packard is buying Division Group's high-performance graphics system for £3.6m plus royalties. 16-Aug-1996 British Data Management, the data management and storage company, may become the subject of a takeover bid as it has confirmed discussions are taking place with an unnamed company. 13-Aug-1996 BPP Holdings, the education and training company, is withdrawing from the production of multimedia CD titles until the market is more mature. 13-Aug-1996 Delphi Group is setting up a joint venture company with Computer Horizons of the US to provide solutions to the 2000 date change problem on computer systems. 10-Aug-1996 Bermo of the US is planning a £4m electronic components factory in Glenrothes with the creation of 100 jobs. 07-Aug-1996 Ultra Electronics, the defence electronics manufacturer, is planning a stock market listing which will value it at up to £130m. 05-Aug-1996 Sage has been revealed as a potential bidder for Pegasus, the accounting software house which is thought to be worth about £27m. 03-Aug-1996 Vega Group is buying Kortekerkwal and its Selmers Automation subsidiary, the Dutch process automation companies, for £4.6m. 02-Aug-1996 Amstrad and Psion have called off their takeover talks due to failure to agree a price. 27-Jul-1996 National Semiconductor of the US is to cut 200 jobs at its Greenock plant in Scotland due to a decline in the world market for microchips. 27-Jul-1996 The government has decided to privatise AEA Technology, the science and technology services concern, via a flotation later this year. 24-Jul-1996 Samsung Electronics is building a £5m advanced electrical research facility in Yateley, Hampshire, to test its products for European markets. 22-Jul-1996 Plasmon, the maker of optical data storage systems, is planning a flotation which is expected to value the company at about £32m. 18-Jul-1996 Network Technology, the computer equipment concern, is planning to raise £5m in a share placing, with £1.8m to be used for expansion. 13-Jul-1996 Intelligent Environments has formed a sales, marketing and services alliance with Netscape Communications, the US internet software concern. 11-Jul-1996 LG of South Korea is to build a £1.6bn electronics complex in Newport, south Wales, to manufacture semiconductors and television parts and create 6,100 jobs. 10-Jul-1996 Stentor Communications has signed an agreement to use AT&T's international network for calls. 06-Jul-1996 The Lite-On Technology Corporation of Taiwan is to set up a £40m computer monitor factory in Lanarkshire, creating over 1,000 jobs. 06-Jul-1996 British Telecom and Microsoft are to jointly market network and on-line services to small businesses. 05-Jul-1996 Network Technology, the networking specialist, is planning a £4m placing on the Alternative Investment Market, to help fund expansion. 05-Jul-1996 Cray Electronics is to focus on its core activities by consolidating all its UK operations at its Watford site and by selling its P-E management consultancy to Lorien for £7.8m. 04-Jul-1996 Firecrest has sold the worldwide rights for the Internet Transphone and the Collect Loyalty scheme to Netex Network Communication of the US, for $12m. 04-Jul-1996 AFA Systems, the financial software concern that has developed a treasury and risk management software product, is to join the Alternative Investment Market to raise funds to expand in South Africa, Europe, Miami and Singapore. 04-Jul-1996 Amstrad Consumer Electronics is to be injected into Betacom, the telecoms maker in which it has a 67% stake, in preparation for the planned bid by Psion. 01-Jul-1996 Telecom Credit Europe is planning to acquire Digiphone Europe, the internet telephony specialist, for about £25m. 29-Jun-1996 National Brand Three and Tetralink Communications have won licences to build advanced digital radio networks, conforming to the new trans European trunked radio standard and able to provide companies such as hauliers and taxi operators with voice and data communications. 28-Jun-1996 British Telecom is setting up a new telemarketing centre in Warrington which will provide 1,000 part-time jobs from next January. 28-Jun-1996 Psion, the maker of handheld computers, is preparing an agreed bid for Amstrad, the computer and digital phone company, which would involve paying £234m in shares. 26-Jun-1996 The government is to soon announce plans to set up a national microelectronics institute in Scotland, to improve technical training in the manufacture of semiconductors. 21-Jun-1996 Vocalis Group, the speech recognition company, is planning a share placing on the main market in order to raise £5m to develop its marketing activities. 21-Jun-1996 Interconnection Systems is planning a £120m printed circuit board plant in north Tyneside, creating 1,000 jobs. 20-Jun-1996 NChannel plans to introduce Acorn's NetStation network computer in the UK in October, selling for £399 and expected to enable many more people to use email and the internet. 19-Jun-1996 Racal Network Services is linking up with Integralis, the internet consultancy, to create an internet business service called Quza. 18-Jun-1996 Telstra, the Australian telecoms carrier, is expanding its network to provide business services over the whole of the UK. 14-Jun-1996 Mercury Communications is to invest £300m in Datalink 2000, the data services business. 13-Jun-1996 NTL is planning a £100m fibre optic network across the UK for the benefit of mobile phone operators, broadcasters, and possibly cable operators. 12-Jun-1996 BCE Holdings, the games software concern, is buying a 8.3% stake in AutoNomy, the company developing an internet search system, for £2.5m. 11-Jun-1996 British Telecom has announced plans to link up with MCI of America to invest an initial £200m in a dedicated internet network with eight international hubs, thus speeding up internet access. 11-Jun-1996 The government is to start allowing rivals to British Telecom and Mercury to operate their own circuits for international telephone calls, which could result in a big fall in call costs. 07-Jun-1996 Omnimedia has reached an agreement with Oracle of the US which will allow it to offer its Rainbow toolkit to Oracle clients, enabling them to provide broadcast-quality material on the internet. 07-Jun-1996 Racal Electronics is planning a £20m restructure of its data products business and also wants to sell off non-core operations such as the energy and marine division. 06-Jun-1996 Shinho Electronic Telecommunications of South Korea is to build a £8.2m plant to make computer monitors in Fife, creating 280 jobs. 30-May-1996 Vocalis, the speech recognition company, is planning to raise £5m in a London flotation to invest in sales and marketing activities. 28-May-1996 Cable & Wireless is in joint venture talks with Veba of Germany and Stet of Italy, and expects a deal to be completed within six months. 24-May-1996 Tenma of Japan is to expand its printer components plant near Glasgow, creating 119 jobs. 24-May-1996 Kohdensha of Japan is investing £6.5m in a circuit board factory in Dunfermline, creating 87 jobs. 24-May-1996 Acorn Computer plans to launch one of the first network computers, costing under £320, this autumn, having won a contract from Oracle to design such a machine. 22-May-1996 Telewest, the cable TV operator, is to launch Cable Internet, a service which will provide cable TV subscribers with easy access to the internet, although access via broadband cable modems will not be available until next year. 22-May-1996 Softbank PSC, the provider of computer technical support, plans to expand its Watford HQ, creating over 200 jobs. 20-May-1996 National Semiconductor of the US is to invest at least £33m upgrading its semiconductor plant in Greenock. 17-May-1996 Amstrad has announced that Dancall, its maker of digital telephone handsets, will start direct retail sales in the UK under its own brand. 16-May-1996 Ionica of Cambridge has now launched its innovative radio telephone service, which it claims will have a line rental 20% cheaper than BT. 15-May-1996 EUnet International has been formed as a UK holding company to combine 9 independent internet service providers from France, Finland, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Portugal and the Czech Republic. 15-May-1996 Vodafone is trebling its advertising budget to £20m, in response to the £30m spent by Orange. 13-May-1996 European Telecom, the cellular telephone distributor, is planning a flotation next month which will value it at about £35m. 13-May-1996 VideoLogic is to supply its 3D graphics technology to Compaq, for use in a new range of home PCs. 10-May-1996 Vodafone is increasing its stake in SFR, the French telecoms concern, from 10% to 16.5% at a cost of £300m. 08-May-1996 Zenith Electronics and US Robotics have jointly developed a set-top box to allow cable TV subscribers to access the internet, and is now working with Microsoft and Cisco Systems to enable two-way access. 07-May-1996 Unipalm Pipex is upgrading its internet service to provide what it claims will be the fastest access to the internet for customers that use telephone lines. 02-May-1996 Virtuality has awarded Takara of Japan a licence to sell its virtual reality headsets in Japanese shops. 30-Apr-1996 Recognition Systems, the Birmingham-based software company, plans to raise £3m in a flotation next month. 29-Apr-1996 Virgin plans to launch an internet service called V-Net later this year, in conjunction with an unnamed UK telecoms company. 23-Apr-1996 Simple Technology, the Californian computer company, is to set up a European HQ in East Kilbride, creating 360 jobs. 19-Apr-1996 Microsoft is buying a minority stake in Helicon Publishing, the publisher of reference works based in Oxford. 17-Apr-1996 Seagate Technology of the US is planning a £50m expansion of its Londonderry video heads plant, creating 300 jobs. 16-Apr-1996 Fujitsu is planning a £7.4m expansion of its Belfast telecommunications switching gear plant, creating 100 jobs. 13-Apr-1996 Siemens of Germany has won a seven-year contract to build and operate a computer system for the UK's Immigration and Nationality Department, and it will only be paid from the savings the system generates. 11-Apr-1996 A £50m multimedia park is being planned in Cardiff Bay by a consortium called Celtic Gateway, creating at least 500 jobs. 10-Apr-1996 Cellnet is to link with Barclaycard to offer customers the ability to display details of their credit card account on their mobile phone handsets. 06-Apr-1996 Vodafone has reached agreement with American Personal Communications to enable customers to use their GSM cards when travelling in the US. 06-Apr-1996 The Inland Revenue is to offer free software to help people use the new tax self-assessment system, with software development coming from Electronic Data Systems of the US. 04-Apr-1996 JBA Holdings, the software company, plans to buy its south east Asian distributor to allow it to build up its business in the region. 03-Apr-1996 Mitsubishi Electric is to increase Apricot computer production at its Glenrothes factory in a £200m investment programme and expand its research facility in Birmingham, creating 300 and 100 jobs respectively. 02-Apr-1996 British Telecom and Cable & Wireless have restarted discussions about a merger which would see C&W acquire BT in a reverse takeover. 29-Mar-1996 Eidos, the games software concern, plans to acquire CentreGold, the games publisher, in a £17m share swap deal. 29-Mar-1996 Daewoo Electronics of South Korea has confirmed it will spend £14.8m expanding its VTR plant in Antrim, creating 300 jobs. 28-Mar-1996 The proposed sale of a 35% stake in Telecom Eireann by the Irish government has attracted only two bidders - Tele Danmark and a joint bid from Telia of Sweden and KPN of the Netherlands. 27-Mar-1996 Photronics of the US is planning a £47m photomasking development in Manchester, creating 270 jobs. 26-Mar-1996 Firecrest has awarded Multi Media Publishing of Norway the Scandinavian rights to sell Internet Transphone, which enables credit card transactions on the internet. 23-Mar-1996 Phonelink is to fund the next stage of development of its Tel-Me electronic information service by raising £15m in a share placing. 22-Mar-1996 Quality Software Products, the accountancy software developer, is looking for US and European partners. 22-Mar-1996 Psion, the hand-held computer company, is discussing the licensing of its operating system software to other companies. 20-Mar-1996 Daewoo of South Korea and Texas Instruments of the US are discussing a possible $1bn investment in a semiconductor plant in Northern Ireland. 18-Mar-1996 Interconnection Systems is planning a £100m printed circuit board factory in North Tyneside, creating 1,000 jobs. 18-Mar-1996 British Telecom is discussing the formation of an Italian joint venture with Mr Silvio Berlusconi, the politician, to compete with Telecom Italia and benefit from the opening up of the Italian market in 1998. 16-Mar-1996 There has been a 60% increase in computer-related theft since 1994, with the average immediate cost being £16,000, according to a government survey. 15-Mar-1996 Micro Focus, the software concern, is focusing on becoming a "Web-based company" in order to return to profitability. 15-Mar-1996 Mercury One-2-One plans to speed up the development of its mobile phone network, aiming to reach 95% of the population by the end of 1997. 14-Mar-1996 3i has bought a 9.84% stake in Viewcall Europe for £600k, which will use the funds to develop its television-top computers used to access online services. 14-Mar-1996 The UK personal computer market rose 24% to over £4.5bn in 1995, with the number of machines sold up 21% to 2.5m, according to Romtec. 13-Mar-1996 British Telecom and Cable & Wireless have failed to agree terms for a merger, apparently because C&W felt that BT was putting too low a value on its business. 11-Mar-1996 ICL is to stop making PCs and will sell off its contract electronics operation in order to focus on becoming Europe's leading systems and services company. 09-Mar-1996 Energis has announced price cuts on international calls, making them at least 15% cheaper than British Telecom and Mercury to 18 countries. 08-Mar-1996 Microvitec has bought Olympic Communications' See-Phone technology which enables video images to be dialled up from a computer. 08-Mar-1996 The government is proposing to remove the exclusive rights of British Telecom and Mercury to provide international services on their networks, which should benefit AT&T, Energis and Unisource if they apply for licences in the summer. 07-Mar-1996 Three South Korean companies - Sung Kwang Electro Mechanics, Fine Electromechanics and Poong Jeon - are to invest in facilties in south Yorkshire to supply parts to Samsung, creating 184 jobs. 06-Mar-1996 QPL International of Hong Kong is planning a £230m semiconductor plant at Newport, south Wales, creating 768 jobs. 02-Mar-1996 Fujitsu is delaying construction of the planned expansion at its semiconductor plant in Newton Aycliffe until late next year due to uncertainty over demand. 02-Mar-1996 VideoLogic, the multimedia hardware concern, is to raise £4.8m from a share placing to provide funds for the development of the joint PowerVR and Highlander projects. 29-Feb-1996 Orange hopes to raise over £530m from next month's flotation, after which it will be 50.49% owned by Hutchison Whampoa and 22.92% by British Aerospace. 29-Feb-1996 Ionica of Cambridge aims to win 20% of the local telephone market when it launches a radio-based service next month using technology developed with Northern Telecom of Canada. 28-Feb-1996 British Telecom is launching BT Internet which it claims will offer residential and small business customers a simpler way to access the internet. 27-Feb-1996 First Information Group, the producer of CD-ROMs and training videos, is to float next month with a value of up to £40m, and plans to use £5m of the proceeds to spend on new interactive documentaries. 26-Feb-1996 The government is preparing plans to phase out analogue mobile phone services by 2005, which would mean that Vodafone and Cellnet would need to transfer to digital networks. 24-Feb-1996 Integrated Micro Products is investing £2.2m in a new plant at Annfield Plain, County Durham, to increase production of computer systems for the telecoms sector, creating 114 jobs. 24-Feb-1996 Admiral, the computer services concern, is looking to expand in Europe by acquisition, especially in France and possibly in non-IT consultancy. 23-Feb-1996 British Telecom is in discussions with ENI of Italy which could lead to BT running ENI's telecoms network. 22-Feb-1996 The government has decided to assign frequencies to the European Radio Messaging Service which will enable the UK to link up with European paging services. 21-Feb-1996 The number of mobile phone subscribers is forecast to reach over 10m by 2005, but the revenue of the big four operators will only be 10% higher than in 1995 due to falling prices, according to a report from CIT Research. 21-Feb-1996 MAID has bought a 15% stake in Easynet Group, the internet provider, for £1.5m. 21-Feb-1996 British Telecom and Matsushita Electric are to jointly develop set-top boxes, video servers and video telephony semiconductor chips. 20-Feb-1996 Superscape VR, the virtual reality software company, has announced a deal in which IBM will market its products throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with North and South American countries to follow. 14-Feb-1996 Acorn Computer is setting up a new company with Apple Computer so that they can jointly market their products to UK schools. 14-Feb-1996 Philips' Origin division has won a £75m 5-year contract to run ICI's computer systems. 12-Feb-1996 FI Group, the computer outsourcing company, is to float on the stock market in spring, at a value of about £60m. 12-Feb-1996 Kalamazoo Computer Solutions has bought Wakebourne Business Systems' Tetra software and hardware contracts. 09-Feb-1996 Voss Net will sell its online electronic trading system in North America through Petra, the online commercial products company. 09-Feb-1996 Motorola is planning a £116m European headquarters in Swindon, creating 700 jobs. 07-Feb-1996 British Telecom is linking up with RWE and Viag to provide telecoms services in Germany. 07-Feb-1996 CentreGold, the games software company, is in talks with a potential buyer following recent warnings of losses. 06-Feb-1996 Amstrad is closing a factory at Shoebury, reducing its UK employees by 150, and merging its Amstrad Direct computer sales business into its Viglen operation. 06-Feb-1996 Cellnet and Vodafone plan to expand their mobile phone networks into the north of Scotland, having been granted almost £4m from the European Union. 06-Feb-1996 Cellnet is announcing new mobile phone tariffs, with charges being made by the second and more free airtime being offered. 03-Feb-1996 Mercury One 2 One aims to boost its mobile phone sales by offering companies with over 20 phones the chance to get 1,000 minutes of free national calls a month in return for £60. 02-Feb-1996 Origin, the Philips joint venture with BSO Origin, is taking on £75m of business from ICI's computer operations. 02-Feb-1996 The government has decided against privatising Whitehall's computer services agency, but will instead give it executive agency status. 01-Feb-1996 Panasonic is planning a £40m warehouse in Northampton which will create up to 100 jobs. 01-Feb-1996 Kingston Communications is buying Certelecom, the Canadian telecoms testing facility, for £1m. 01-Feb-1996 JBA Holdings, the software company, is linking with IBM to develop object orientation methods, with the project being based in Germany. 31-Jan-1996 Vodafone aims to double its shareholding in Societe Francaise du Radiotelephone to 20%. 31-Jan-1996 Data Sciences, the computer services concern, hopes to raise £40m from a flotation in the next two months. 29-Jan-1996 Computer crime in the UK could be costing companies up to £1bn each year according to the Association of British Insurers. 24-Jan-1996 Orange, the mobile phone concern, has announced its flotation plans which may see it capitalised at up to £2.8bn. 23-Jan-1996 Telephone operators will now find it easier to win permission to open public phone boxes following a ruling by the telecoms regulator. 23-Jan-1996 ICL is setting up a new division called Teamware Group to focus on groupware products. 18-Jan-1996 Peoples Phone has postponed next month's flotation due to difficult trading in the mobile phones market. 17-Jan-1996 Marconi is cutting 220 jobs at its Chelmsford plants blaming low orders for defence-related work. 17-Jan-1996 Coda has announced a deal in which it will include Cognos' business intelligence tools in its accounting software. 16-Jan-1996 Systems Integrated Research, the educational CD-ROM company, plans to float on the Alternative Investment Market at a value of about £20m. 15-Jan-1996 Integrated Optical Components, the maker of optoelectronic components made from lithium niobate chips, plans to join the Alternative Investment Market in February. 13-Jan-1996 Siemens is looking for further UK acquisitions, possibly in telecoms and transportation. 12-Jan-1996 Orange, the mobile phone network, expects to float in New York and London in March, with Hutchison Whampoa and British Aerospace selling 25% of their stakes. 12-Jan-1996 Hoskyns is buying British Steel's computer operations in a £100m outsourcing deal. 12-Jan-1996 Acorn Computer and Oracle are to jointly work on the development of low cost network computers for the internet. 11-Jan-1996 Fujitsu is setting up a R&D centre in London, employing 20 staff to work on advanced computer design. 09-Jan-1996 Hutchison Orange gained 50,000 new digital phone customers in December, well up on expectations. 05-Jan-1996 Cellnet and Vodafone have both reported significantly lower sales of mobile phones this Christmas compared to 1994. 03-Jan-1996 Sema Group is offering to acquire the remaining 51% of Tibet, the seller of back office systems to the French stock market, for £12m. 03-Jan-1996 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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