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Computers & Electronics 1998
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Zeus Technology, the Cambridge-based supplier of internet server software, is planning to open an office in Silicon Valley in early 1999. 31-Dec-1998 One 2 One is to start offering incentives of up to £100 to persuade customers to switch to their mobile phone network, and this new marketing initiative has been timed to coincide with the introduction of number portability. 31-Dec-1998 JWE Telecom is to buy up to £1.4m of assets from AA Mobile Communications. 29-Dec-1998 Gremlin is to consider the options for the future of its computer games business, which could involve acquisitions, partnerships or the sale of the company. 22-Dec-1998 British Telecom has opened a £40m national distribution centre at Magna Park near Lutterworth, which has created 250 jobs. 18-Dec-1998 Software AG of Germany is planning to double the workforce at its Derby headquarters, with the creation of 150 jobs. 18-Dec-1998 Seagate Software is to set up a European head office in Reading in February by transferring 100 staff from Maidenhead, and an additional 200 jobs could be created over the next few years. 18-Dec-1998 Experian is to open a telephone centre in Preston to handle calls for other companies, and 450 jobs will be created over the next 18 months. 17-Dec-1998 British Telecom is providing £3m of support to Ionica, as customers of the failed radio-based telecoms company move to BT and other operators. 17-Dec-1998 British Telecom, Cellnet and Vodafone have been told by Oftel to reduce the cost of calls to mobile phones by a total of £1bn over the next three years, following an investigation by the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 16-Dec-1998 The government has shortlisted four potential sites on Merseyside to locate the new national Criminal Records Bureau, and the project will create 1,200 new jobs. 15-Dec-1998 Daewoo Electronics has warned that 1,000 jobs could be at risk in Northern Ireland, as the IMF plan to bail-out South Korea's industrial conglomerates would result in Daewoo focusing on cars and heavy industries instead of electronics. 15-Dec-1998 Acorn is to set up a £2m research centre in Bristol to develop digital TV chips, and it has also announced plans to stop supporting its personal computer brand. 15-Dec-1998 Turner & Townsend Group has won a contract from Orange to manage the installation of microcells throughout the country, in order to increase the capacity of Orange's mobile phone network. 14-Dec-1998 Novell of the US is acquiring a minority stake in Orbital Software, the Edinburgh-based provider of internet search software. 14-Dec-1998 Amtech Electronic Filtration Technologies is planning to set up a UK head office and R&D facilities to commercialise technology invented in Israel for the elimination of radio frequency interference problems. 14-Dec-1998 Ericsson is to cut up to 10,000 jobs worldwide, which could hit the company's 3,500-strong UK workforce. 11-Dec-1998 Graphic Data is setting up a new office at Pembroke Dock's Royal Dockyard, as part of a strategy to offer its document imaging and microfilming service to companies throughout the UK. 10-Dec-1998 Scottish Telecom is to create about 500 jobs at its Call Centre Services division in Glasgow, to cope with an increase in business. 10-Dec-1998 British Telecom is planning to set up a network of 2,500 multimedia phone booths throughout the country, enabling people to use the internet and obtain a free email address. 10-Dec-1998 RSL Com of the US has acquired a one-third stake in Ternhill Communications, the Market Drayton-based mobile phone chain, for undisclosed terms. 09-Dec-1998 Advanced Communications is to launch its mobile and fixed line telecoms services in Bristol and Manchester, and has just opened new offices in Birmingham and London. 08-Dec-1998 Kingston Communications is to offer high-speed internet access to customers in Hull using Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line technology, which enables large amounts of information to be sent over ordinary copper wires. 08-Dec-1998 Sema is leading a consortium that has won a $500m contract to supply IT services for the Olympic Games, thereby replacing IBM. 08-Dec-1998 Rushton Connections of Burnley is investing £1m in new technology for its call centre, and is being relaunched under the new name of Connections Plus. 07-Dec-1998 WorldCom is planning to set up a telecommunications switch centre at the Bilton Business Centre in Portsmouth, employing 11 staff. 07-Dec-1998 National Grid is linking up with Sprint of the US to bid for the licence to expand Brazil's telecoms network at a cost of £600m. 07-Dec-1998 Apar Infotech and Polaris Software, two Indian software companies, are said to be planning to create 500 jobs in London. 07-Dec-1998 Coats Viyella is considering a number of takeover approaches for its precision engineering business, which makes telecoms and computer components under the Dynacast and SPM names. 04-Dec-1998 GEC is to cut 1,000 jobs at Marconi Communications in a voluntary redundancy programme, but has stressed that the business is not for sale. 04-Dec-1998 Kalamazoo Computer is planning to diversify into project management, systems integration and support, in an attempt to return to profit, and is also considering a move from its Birmingham headquarters. 04-Dec-1998 Interoute is planning to spend £10m on the construction of a video and voice communications network, in conjunction with Siemens and Cisco Systems. 03-Dec-1998 Torch Telecom is to invest £20m in a new phone network to serve businesses in Bristol, and will set up an office at the Aztec West Business Park to employ 28 people by next April. 02-Dec-1998 Caudwell has opened a mobile phone skills centre in Stoke as part of an ongoing expansion, and its airtime provider arm, Singlepoint 4U, is planning to create a further 50 jobs. 02-Dec-1998 The Foreign Office has announced plans to set up a secure email network, recruit an additional 375 diplomats and other staff, and sell off £100m of overseas properties. 28-Nov-1998 Pace Micro Technology, the satellite equipment manufacturer, has relocated its sales and marketing operation from its Yorkshire headquarters to Stevenage. 27-Nov-1998 Orange is to create 300 jobs at a new mobile phone call centre in Peterlee, East Durham. 26-Nov-1998 Infobank International is raising £9m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its electronic commerce software. 26-Nov-1998 National Grid is looking to sell its 74% stake in its Energis telecoms business within the next five years, and is also seeking partners to set up similar telecoms operations in other countries. 25-Nov-1998 Bookham Technology is receiving $10m of investment from both Intel and Cisco Systems to enable it to develop its technology for combining optics and electronics on a silicon chip. 24-Nov-1998 ICL and CMG have won a joint contract worth £200m to supply all the information technology requirements of the Department of Trade & Industry. 21-Nov-1998 Danka Business Systems, the photocopier supplier, has warned that it may have to seek protection from creditors under America's Chapter 11 bankruptcy code due to problems in its US operations. 20-Nov-1998 Financial Objects, the supplier of banking software, is planning to raise about £20m in a flotation next month, part of which may be used to fund acquisitions to help it move into new markets. 20-Nov-1998 Philips Business Communications is to move to new premises on the Cambridge Business Park and increase its workforce by 40 over the next six months. 19-Nov-1998 Energis is in discussions with a number of companies, thought to include Vodafone and Orange, to form a consortium to bid for the next generation of mobile phone licences. 18-Nov-1998 Scottish Enterprise has announced plans for a £6m Scottish Microelectronics Centre at Edinburgh University, which will help fledgling microchip companies to establish themselves. 17-Nov-1998 Cable & Wireless is to invest $1bn over the next five years in the expansion of its communications network into mainland Europe, and the funds will be used to obtain licences and build fibre optic networks around specific cities. 17-Nov-1998 Oracle is planning to set up a £20m software support office at Blythe Valley Business Park in the West Midlands, creating up to 950 jobs. 17-Nov-1998 Datel Electronics is planning to build a new industrial unit and offices next to its existing base on Stone Business Park in Staffordshire, which will create up to 100 new jobs. 16-Nov-1998 Scottish Telecom is creating more than 100 jobs at its CallCentre Service in Glasgow, having won more contracts to operate call centres for third parties. 16-Nov-1998 British Telecom is reviewing the future of its £2bn property portfolio due to changes in accounting standards, which could result in the assets being spun off into a separate company. 16-Nov-1998 Universal Scientific Industrial of Taiwan is planning to set up a £15m electronic components factory in Irvine, Scotland, creating up to 700 jobs over the next three years. 13-Nov-1998 Lynx has acquired Exepos, the supplier of computer and telephone integration systems, for £3.3m and will use it as a base to set up a new communications division. 13-Nov-1998 Option Technologies International is to set up a new drilling department at its printed circuit boards factory in Haslingden, creating an unspecified number of new jobs. 12-Nov-1998 Cable & Wireless has abandoned its alliance with Telecom Italia, although it is still expected to go-ahead with the previously announced sale of its stake in Bouygues Telecom to Telecom Italia and others. 12-Nov-1998 Murray-Shelley & Partners, the South Wales-based electronics company, has gone into liquidation and a buyer is now sought in an attempt to save the 20 jobs. 10-Nov-1998 The government has allocated a further £430m to the "national grid for learning", in which every school will be linked to the internet. 07-Nov-1998 Fibernet, the computer network company, is considering the formation of an alliance with a larger telecommunications group that could result in it being taken over. 07-Nov-1998 ZEDA, the Nottingham-based IT solutions group, is opening a centre in Leeds which will create 50 jobs over the next year. 06-Nov-1998 MSW Technology, the software consultancy, has raised £2m in a flotation that values the company at £8m. 06-Nov-1998 The Affinity consortium, which includes EDS and IBM, has won a contract to update the computing systems at the social security department. 06-Nov-1998 Simoco has won a contract to provide a digital mobile radio system linking emergency services across Gibraltar. 05-Nov-1998 Cadence Design Systems of the US has announced a worldwide restructuring programme, but says this will not affect its plans to create almost 2,000 jobs at a chip design centre in Livingston. 05-Nov-1998 Yahoo! is launching a pay-as-you-go internet access service in partnership with British Telecom. 05-Nov-1998 Mondex International has linked up with Alcatel and Gemplus of France to develop the world's first mobile phone cash machine, enabling people to transfer funds onto cash cards via their phones. 05-Nov-1998 Premier Farnell is setting up a worldwide distribution deal with Siemens in which it will offer the German company's electronic components through its catalogue and internet-based systems. 05-Nov-1998 Quotient Communications, the Sawston-based telecoms consultancy, has won a contract to help design and implement a cellular phone network in Belgium. 04-Nov-1998 Philips is planning to close about one-third of its factories worldwide over the next four years, which could threaten up to 1,750 jobs in the north-east. 04-Nov-1998 Merlin Communications International has won planning permission to build eight satellite dishes and six control buildings in the grounds of the Cams Hall estate in Fareham, and more than 80 jobs could be created. 03-Nov-1998 Vodafone has completed the £237m acquisition of a GSM cellular network in New Zealand from BellSouth New Zealand, and has also announced a deal with Tesco to sell pay-as-you-go phones. 03-Nov-1998 Dixons is to recruit a further 25 people at its recently-opened mobile phone repair centre in Stoke. 02-Nov-1998 The Tees Valley Development Company has been asked to find a new occupier for Samsung's £12m Wynyard training centre, casting doubt over the facility's long-term future. 02-Nov-1998 Motorola of the US has paid £29m for a 23% stake in Symbian, the hand-held devices company set up by Psion, Ericsson and Nokia. 30-Oct-1998 Memory Corporation, the designer of semiconductor devices, is planning to move its listing from the Alternative Investment Market to the Brussels-based Easdaq stock exchange, raising £12m to expand its sales channels in Europe and the US. 30-Oct-1998 York is to launch a three-year project to transform itself into a city of science and technology, and aims to attract companies involved in areas such as bioscience, healthcare and communications. 30-Oct-1998 ICL is launching a high-speed pan-European data communications network as it continues to transform itself from a hardware manufacturer into a services supplier. 28-Oct-1998 Seagate Technology has confirmed that its microprocessor plant in Livingston will close early next year, with the loss of 262 jobs, as no buyer has been found. 28-Oct-1998 Colt Telecom is planning to set up fibre optic networks in Milan, Barcelona, Cologne, Stuttgart, Vienna, Geneva and Lyon over the next year. 27-Oct-1998 Nortel Networks of Canada is to invest £4.7m in the expansion of its Belfast factory, creating 400 jobs. 27-Oct-1998 Marconi Communications claims to have developed a method of switching calls optically rather than electronically, and this could be used to reduce congestion in the world's telecoms networks. 27-Oct-1998 EDS is creating a further 50 jobs in Derby in order to provide information technology services for Rolls-Royce. 26-Oct-1998 Lattice Semiconductor of the US has selected Hartham Park, near Corsham in Wiltshire, as the site for its European Research and Design Centre, and up to 100 engineering jobs will be created. 26-Oct-1998 Motorola has opened a £116m mobile phone components factory in Swindon, employing 200 people. 23-Oct-1998 Allstate Corporation of the US is to set up a £3.6m software support centre in Belfast, creating 250 jobs. 21-Oct-1998 BICC is to cut 500 jobs at a fibre factory in Deeside and another site in Australia due to a recent decline in the market for telecoms cables. 20-Oct-1998 Cisco Systems of the US is said to be close to announcing plans for a £7m high-tech research centre in the Edinburgh area, which could create up to 60 jobs. 19-Oct-1998 WebPoint of Aberdeen has won contracts to install coin-operated public e-mail terminals for Virgin Megastores, ScotRail and Belhaven Breweries. 19-Oct-1998 Yajima of Japan is opening a $6m plant in Ebbw Vale to make steel frames for television tubes, creating 110 jobs over the next two years. 19-Oct-1998 One-2-One has announced a series of measures to increase its share of the mobile phone market, including an agreement to sell phones in Sainsbury's stores, free lunchtime calls, and a £15m advertising campaign. 19-Oct-1998 Stentor, the Irish telecoms company, is planning to recapitalise itself through a rights issue, in order to avoid bankruptcy. 17-Oct-1998 VideoWeb, the videoconferencing equipment company, is to create 80 jobs at a new call centre in Thatcham, Berkshire. 16-Oct-1998 Densitron International, the electronic components company, is considering a takeover approach that has been made for its Microwave subsidiary. 16-Oct-1998 Raytheon Systems of the US is to recruit a further 50 engineers and 30 manufacturing staff at its site in Harlow, Essex, as well as a further 20 manufacturing staff at its Glenrothes site. 15-Oct-1998 Panasonic is planning to create a further 150 jobs at its cellphones packaging and distribution plant in Portsmouth. 15-Oct-1998 Delta Business Computing has moved to new offices in Derby and is looking to recruit a further 50 staff over the next two years. 14-Oct-1998 Caudwell, the mobile phone company, is to create 50 new jobs in its Singlepoint 4U division in Stoke and Newcastle-under-Lyme in order to cope with growing demand for connections to the Vodafone network. 14-Oct-1998 The Web Factory of Newcastle-under-Lyme is planning to create 70 new jobs over the next 12 months due to rising demand for its intranet and extranet services. 14-Oct-1998 Segue Software of the US is to set up a worldwide technical support centre in Belfast, creating 45 new jobs over the next three years. 14-Oct-1998 Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms company, has confirmed that it will set up a corporate headquarters in St James's Square, London. 13-Oct-1998 Microgen, the information management company, is looking to sell its subsidiaries in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway in order to focus on the UK. 13-Oct-1998 Archer Communications Systems is to create 120 new jobs in Hedge End near Southampton, having been appointed prime contractor for a £2bn project to supply the armed forces with an integrated battlefield communications system. 12-Oct-1998 St Modwen Developments has started work on a 23,000 sq ft European headquarters office building near Worcester, and the £3m project is pre-let to Milltronics UK. 12-Oct-1998 Cisco Systems of the US is considering plans to acquire a number of privately-owned UK technology companies. 09-Oct-1998 Cap Gemini, the computer services group, is moving into larger offices in Gorgie Road, Edinburgh. 09-Oct-1998 Karavale Enterprises is to invest £10m in a printed circuit board plant in Cwmbran, South Wales, with the creation of 400 jobs. 08-Oct-1998 Seagate Technology of the US is looking to sell its semiconductor plant in Livingston before the end of the year, otherwise it will be closed with the loss of 275 jobs. 08-Oct-1998 British Telecom has awarded a contract to Netscape for the supply of software for its new pay-as-you-go internet access service. 08-Oct-1998 MCI WorldCom of the US is planning to invest $800m in the expansion of its optical fibre network in Europe, which will give it national coverage in the UK, Germany and France. 07-Oct-1998 Racal Electronics, in partnership with Thomson-CSF, has won a £250m contract to supply the local area subsystem element of the British armed forces' new Bowman radio system. 06-Oct-1998 Cap Gemini is planning to recruit a further 1,500 staff by the end of the year as the company continues to benefit from year 2000 work and from the outsourcing of IT requirements by large organisations. 06-Oct-1998 Shield-care, the specialist in cleaning semiconductor production equipment parts, is to invest £1m in new processing equipment at its Glenrothes site and increase its workforce to more than 50 by December. 06-Oct-1998 Orange is planning to move into the business telephone market with a corporate switchboard system that treats mobile phones as if they were conventional extensions, and a dedicated call centre will be set up to support the service. 05-Oct-1998 Computacenter, the supplier of IT systems, has formed an alliance with Microsoft to finance the training of 1000 new IT professionals in order to help the company install Microsoft systems. 05-Oct-1998 The government is to provide a further £105m to enable schools to link up to the internet. 02-Oct-1998 Manugistics, the software company, is to move into new offices in the Arena development in Bracknell. 02-Oct-1998 Cable & Wireless is investing a further £595m in Optus, the Australian telecoms group, as part of a flotation and restructuring plan that will see its stake rise from 49% to 52.8%. 01-Oct-1998 British Telecom has acquired a 23% stake in LG Telecom, the South Korean mobile operator, for £230m. 01-Oct-1998 Fujitsu of Japan has bought the remaining 9.9% stake in ICL for £50m, which will enable the UK computer services business to be floated in 2000. 01-Oct-1998 British Telecom is planning to introduce thousands of multimedia payphones as part of a new email service called Talk21. 01-Oct-1998 EDS is to set up an office in Sheffield to provide a full range of computing services, and about 300 jobs will be created. 01-Oct-1998 Prestwick Holdings, the Ayrshire-based printed circuit board maker, is looking out for a partner as it believes it is too small for an industry that requires high levels of capital expenditure. 01-Oct-1998 Kingston Communications is to start offering its telephone service to customers across East Yorkshire, the first time it has moved outside its established market in Hull and into British Telecom territory. 01-Oct-1998 Viasystems has confirmed that it will close its electronics plants in Galashiels and Selkirk with the loss of 1,000 jobs. 30-Sep-1998 Siemens is offering to transfer more than 100 technical and administration staff from its closed Tyneside plant to other company sites overseas. 30-Sep-1998 British Telecom's VIAG Interkom joint venture is to become the first company in Germany to provide Internet services, mobile and fixed telephone lines from a single supplier. 30-Sep-1998 A new company called Flute is raising £20m to set up a fibre optic cable between England, Belgium and the Netherlands, in order to offer capacity to small telecoms operators at one-sixth of the price currently charged by other providers. 29-Sep-1998 British Telecom is moving into the Dutch mobile market with the launch of the first fully digital service in the Netherlands, in a joint venture with the national railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen. 29-Sep-1998 International Rectifier Corp of the US is to set up a £25m electronics component plant at Penllergaer in the Swansea Valley, creating 500 jobs. 29-Sep-1998 Cyclops Electronics has moved to new headquarters in York, in order to expand its electronic components supply business. 28-Sep-1998 Lantrax, the Waterlooville-based printed circuit board company, has collapsed with the loss of 100 jobs. 28-Sep-1998 Seagate Software of the US is to open an office in Reading town centre, at the £14m Aquis House. 25-Sep-1998 Ionica, the radio-based telecoms provider, is in discussions with a potential investor amidst talk of potential bankruptcy early next year unless a rescue deal can be agreed. 25-Sep-1998 Datel Electronics is planning to expand its computer parts plant at Stone near Stoke, creating up to 100 jobs. 25-Sep-1998 Foxteq of Taiwan is to set up a £15m plant in Renfrew to make PC enclosures, creating over 500 jobs. 25-Sep-1998 Silicon Systems has opened a £1.5m design centre in Belfast and is looking to recruit a further 65 people. 25-Sep-1998 The government is launching a £1bn scheme to computerise the NHS, which will involve the introduction of electronic patient records, telemedicine, and online booking systems for hospital appointments. 24-Sep-1998 Orange Communications is to license its brand to Hutchison Telecom in Hong Kong, as part of a strategy to build up a global brand. 24-Sep-1998 Viridian is to set up a new subsidiary called Service and Systems Solutions to market services to local businesses in the areas of call centres, information technology, training, revenue and supply chain services, creating about 400 jobs. 23-Sep-1998 Viasystems Tamworth has made a £4m offer for the remaining 39% of TDS Circuits, the Aim-listed electronics company. 22-Sep-1998 MetroHoldings, the joint venture between Energis, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, has completed its first local fibre optic networks in London and will set up similar networks in other UK cities. 22-Sep-1998 Northern Telecom is to close telecommunications equipment plants in Paignton and Maidenhead with the loss of 530 and 56 jobs respectively, as part of a plan to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide. 22-Sep-1998 Racal Radio has agreed to form a joint venture with Thomson-CSF of France to build military communications networks, which will put the two companies in a good position to win the British Army's £300m Bowman Local Area System contract. 19-Sep-1998 Acorn Group is to abandon a £2m project to update its Risc personal computer range, and will reduce its workforce from 175 to 100 as part of a reorganisation that will save up to £5m a year. 18-Sep-1998 Bell Geospace of the US, IPRES of Norway, and Trihedral Engineering of Canada are to set up operations at the Aberdeen Science and Technology Park, with the creation of up to 200 jobs. 17-Sep-1998 Cable & Wireless is planning to spend $1bn over the next five years to expand the internet business recently acquired from MCI of the US. 16-Sep-1998 Diploma has sold Wakefield Electronics, the US provider of network connectivity products, to Black Box Corp of the US for $25m. 16-Sep-1998 Rasmi Electronics is to create a further 45 jobs at its new electronic components factory in Annfield Plain, County Durham. 16-Sep-1998 Orange is licensing its brand to Partner Communications, the Israeli mobile phone operator, and a series of similar deals are expected in countries such as Belgium and Switzerland. 15-Sep-1998 Kalamazoo Security Print is to close its office in Sheffield, with the loss of 18 jobs, and business will be moved to its Birmingham head office. 15-Sep-1998 Personal Computer Sciences is to set up a computer assembly plant in Eaglescliffe on Teesside, which will provide an initial 100 jobs with a further 200 to be added within 18 months. 14-Sep-1998 Cable & Wireless is planning to invest a further £44m in Ireland, creating 300 jobs in Dublin and Shannon. 12-Sep-1998 Ingram Micro is planning to set up a computer equipment distribution facility at Severn Trent's rail freight terminal in Daventry. 11-Sep-1998 Lite-on Technology is to close its plant at Mossend in Lanarkshire with the loss of over 100 jobs. 11-Sep-1998 British Aerospace is acquiring the remaining 50% stake in BAeSema, the naval systems concern, from Sema for £77m, in an effort to become a prime contractor in both naval and aircraft systems. 11-Sep-1998 Celeritek, the US telecommunications firm, to set up a £2m design centre in Belfast, creating 35 jobs. 10-Sep-1998 FirstTel Systems Corp, the US provider of software to the telecoms industry, is to set up a design and development centre in Glasgow with the creation of 50 jobs. 10-Sep-1998 Kingston Communications is planning to build a £1m engineering centre in Hull, which will bring together engineers from offices across the city. 09-Sep-1998 The Welsh Development Agency has submitted plans to Swansea Council to build an electronics assembly and test facility building at the Penllergaer Business Park, which would create 500 jobs, although the company concerned has not been named. 08-Sep-1998 Dell Computer is planning to invest £77m to expand capacity at a computer factory in Limerick, Ireland, creating 1,700 jobs. 07-Sep-1998 Vodafone is said to be considering a merger with Airtouch of the US, which would create a £40bn mobile phone group. 07-Sep-1998 Kyamata has signed an exclusive deal with the University of Glasgow for the use of the university's technology to build planar opto-electronic devices for sale to telecommunications equipment companies. 07-Sep-1998 Fujitsu of Japan is to close its semiconductor plant in County Durham with the loss of 570 jobs due to overcapacity in the sector, although the government is hoping to help the company find a buyer for the site. 05-Sep-1998 LG's £1.2bn microchip development in South Wales could be under threat from the South Korean company's decision to merge with Hyundai, a move that was prompted by the Asian financial crisis. 04-Sep-1998 Cable & Wireless Communications has awarded a £1.8bn 10-year deal to IBM for the outsourcing of its central management systems, which will involve the transfer of about 950 staff and the creation of an additional 400 jobs. 03-Sep-1998 Psion is reshaping its hand-held computer product range by dropping the Sienna personal organiser, phasing out the Series 3 and 3A models, and launching the cheaper and more powerful Series 3MX. 03-Sep-1998 Guardian iT, the computer disaster recovery company, is planning to spend £100m on acquisitions to increase its market share. 03-Sep-1998 Pace Micro Technology is linking up with Cisco Systems of the US to develop the next generation of TV set-top boxes which will combine both digital TV and internet technologies. 02-Sep-1998 Scottish Telecom is said to be interested in acquiring Racal Telecom from Racal Electronics for up to £800m, in order to expand its English telecoms business. 31-Aug-1998 GEC-Marconi Underwater Systems is to build a new two-storey office block at its site in Havant to cope with rising orders, and 90 new jobs will be created. 28-Aug-1998 Viasystems is planning to close down its electronics plants in Selkirk and Galashiels with the loss of up to 1,000 jobs. 27-Aug-1998 Dolphin Telecommunications has awarded a £6m contract to Kvaerner Construction for the installation of a new network of digital communication stations across the UK. 26-Aug-1998 Lattice Semiconductor Corp of the US is planning to set up a £25m European research and development headquarters near Bristol, creating 100 new jobs. 26-Aug-1998 Specialist Computer Holdings is to expand its systems integration business and create 250 jobs across the UK, including 100 at its Birmingham headquarters and computer assembly plant. 26-Aug-1998 BP is outsourcing its computer services to EDS of the US in a £300m five-year contract. 21-Aug-1998 Computacenter, the computer distributor and services group, is planning to recruit a further 600 staff by the end of the year, as part of a plan to accelerate its investment programme. 21-Aug-1998 Filtronic, the telecoms components company, is to raise £23m in a share placing in order to fund working capital requirements. 21-Aug-1998 Cable & Wireless is to sell its 25% stake in Mobile Telephone Networks of South Africa to Johnnies Industrial and Transnet for about £257m, as part of a strategy to focus on key markets. 21-Aug-1998 One2One is planning to invest £900m over the next three years expanding its mobile phone coverage from 96% to 98% of the population, and will set up more base stations on major roads to improve reception. 18-Aug-1998 Acorn is undergoing a strategic review that could lead to the sale of some activities in order to focus on set-top boxes for digital televisions and computers, and it has also announced plans to sell its 26% stake in the ARM microchip design business. 15-Aug-1998 British Telecom is acquiring MCI's 25% stake in Concert Communications, BT's international alliance, for $1bn. 13-Aug-1998 British Telecom is reorganising its UK operations in order to provide more customer focus, and its three divisions will be split into seven, including voice and data services, engineering, product development, Yellow Pages, Payphones, mobile, and business services. 12-Aug-1998 Orange is planning to launch its joint venture cellular phone service in Belgium later this year, and Switzerland and Austria will follow next year. 11-Aug-1998 Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms group, is said to be preparing to move its head office to St James's Square, London, to escape Swedish taxes. 10-Aug-1998 Talks have broken down between Hyundai Electronics and Intel over the rescue of Hyundai's unfinished semiconductor plant in Dunfermline, but attempts to find a buyer or joint venture partner will continue. 06-Aug-1998 Ionica, the troubled radio-based telecoms group, has failed in its two-month search for a strategic investor, but says that it has sufficient cash to enable it to trade normally into next year. 04-Aug-1998 Bell Atlantic of the US is to dispose of its 18.5% stake in Cable & Wireless Communications through an exchangeable bond issue, and the announcement caused a 10% fall in C&WC's share price. 04-Aug-1998 Siemens is to close its £1.2bn semiconductor plant in North Tyneside with the loss of 1,100 jobs, although the government is to work with the company to try to find a buyer or joint venture partner to save the factory. 01-Aug-1998 British Telecom has been given Oftel approval to move into Hull, which has traditionally been dominated by the municipally-owned Kingston Communications, although it is not clear whether BT will want to do so. 01-Aug-1998 Admiral, the information technology services group, is looking to make acquisitions in Germany, the Netherlands and possibly Spain, and may also consider the US and Asia. 29-Jul-1998 British Telecom has won a licence to build and operate its own networks in Japan, through a joint venture with Marubeni. 29-Jul-1998 Zergo has raised £22m in a flotation in order to expand its computer security business. 28-Jul-1998 Cable & Wireless has raised its stake in Bezeq, the Israeli telecoms carrier, from 10% to 13% in order to strengthen its position in the local market. 28-Jul-1998 Cable & Wireless Communications has won a three-year network management contract from the UK subsidiary of America Online, and aims to become a key supplier to all internet service providers. 27-Jul-1998 Intel is said to be preparing to invest millions of pounds in an Oxford University project to put internet-linked computers into schools. 27-Jul-1998 British Telecom is acquiring a 33% stake in Binariang, the Malaysian private telecoms group, for about £250m, which will enable it to offer its global managed network to Binariang's customers. 25-Jul-1998 Siemens is said to be considering the cancellation of the second phase of its £1bn microchip investment on Tyneside, due to the Asian financial crisis. 23-Jul-1998 Abbey National is setting up a £30m software factory in Milton Keynes, which will be run by Unisys and will aim to ensure that its systems are free from the year 2000 bug. 22-Jul-1998 ICL is launching a scheme to recycle old computers, which will involve the sale of revamped PCs with a guarantee and service contract through a dealer network. 21-Jul-1998 British Telecom is said to be close to completing the installation of a new UK telecoms network for data traffic, which will enable it to offer a wide range of business and domestic services. 21-Jul-1998 British Airways Engineering has awarded a 10-year contract to EDS of the US for the supply of information technology services in order to improve efficiency. 20-Jul-1998 Cable & Wireless Communications is launching a new mobile phone service aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, which will use the existing One2One network and offer savings of up to 20%. 20-Jul-1998 The £1bn project to computerise the Post Office and Benefits Agency is under review by the government due to concerns over rising costs, and ICL Pathway is said to be seeking additional funding to complete the implementation. 18-Jul-1998 Atlantic Telecom is planning to raise up to £110m in a share placing and debt facility in order to finance the completion of its telecoms networks in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee. 17-Jul-1998 British Telecom is said to have identified four potential US partners, including Bell Atlantic, Sprint, AT&T and Qwest, and an alliance could be announced by the end of the month. 16-Jul-1998 Cable & Wireless and Telecom Italia have announced that a number of agreements between the two companies have fallen through, including deals for Telecom Italia to acquire a 20% stake in C&W West Indies, a 5% stake in C&W's North American business, and a 20% stake in Bouygues Telecom. 14-Jul-1998 Colt Telecom is planning to raise £600m in a shares and debt offering in order to fund its European expansion, and aims to increase the number of markets in which it operates from 12 to 26 by 2000. 14-Jul-1998 Skillsgroup is looking to sell its PSL computer hardware division, as well as its Belgian distribution business, in order to focus on its core personnel and consultancy operations. 14-Jul-1998 IBM is to set up a £12m multilingual direct marketing call centre at its Greenock site in Scotland, creating 500 jobs. 14-Jul-1998 Philips has opened a new factory in Stockport to make discrete semiconductor devices, and expects to add a further 350 jobs at the site over the next five years. 14-Jul-1998 JWE Telecom is planning to open 20 mobile communication business centres and a number of retail outlets. 08-Jul-1998 Vodafone has reduced its stake in the Globalstar satellite-based global communications venture from 5.15% to 3.14%, raising £71m. 08-Jul-1998 Racal Electronics has signed an agreement with Colt Telecom that will enable it to use Colt's central London network to provide the final link to its customers, thereby reducing its dependence on British Telecom. 07-Jul-1998 ICL has won a £48m contract to manage the IT requirements of the Highland council over the next 10 years. 07-Jul-1998 Zergo, the computer security group, is planning to raise £15m in a share placement in order to fund expansion and the acquisition of rival companies. 06-Jul-1998 GEC has confirmed plans to spend up to £5bn on acquisitions in defence electronics, telecoms, and industrial electronics, and has also announced a £358m share buy-back. 03-Jul-1998 Half the UK population are forecast to have a mobile phone by 2002, two years earlier than previously expected and compared to 16% now, according to figures from mobile operators. 03-Jul-1998 Paribas of France has sold an 8% stake in Sema, the Anglo-French computer services company, for £270m, leaving it with a 14% stake. 03-Jul-1998 London Bridge Software is planning to buy the mortgage products business of CheckFree Corp of the US for about £14m. 02-Jul-1998 Compaq is to cut 500 jobs in Scotland following its recent takeover of Digital Equipment, with production of Digital's PCs moving from Irvine to Erskine near Glasgow. 30-Jun-1998 Band-X has set up a UK spot market for telephone minutes and bandwidth, which will match buyers and sellers of spare telecoms capacity. 29-Jun-1998 Hyundai Semiconductor has announced the indefinite postponement of the completion of its memory chip plant in Dunfermline, due to overcapacity in the sector and its failure to find a partner for the project. 27-Jun-1998 Psion has negotiated licensing deals with Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola for the use of its computer operating system in a new generation of wireless products, and a new joint venture company called Symbian is being created. 25-Jun-1998 Azlan, the computer products distributor, has received a number of bid approaches, and CHS Electronics of the US is said to be interested. 25-Jun-1998 ECsoft Group, the IT services provider, has raised £18.5m in a share listing in order to fund expansion by both organic means and by acquisition. 25-Jun-1998 Orange has announced new tariffs for its mobile phone service that are designed to encourage people to switch from fixed line communications, and it has also pledged to launch a mobile videophone within 18 months. 24-Jun-1998 IOC is to raise £3.9m in a share placing in order to fund the development of new telecoms components. 24-Jun-1998 Touchstone Group, the accounting software company, is planning to raise £1.1m in a flotation on Aim next month, and will use the listing to help it make further acquisitions. 22-Jun-1998 ICO Global Communications is planning to raise up to $500m in a flotation on Nasdaq, in order to help build a global mobile phone service using a network of satellites. 16-Jun-1998 Harvey Nash is acquiring a 90% stake in European Experts, the Belgian supplier of contract staff to the IT sector, for £6.5m. 15-Jun-1998 Kingston Communications has rejected a £245m offer from Landtel Communications of the US for a stake in the company, as Hull's city council wants to retain ownership. 13-Jun-1998 British Telecom has outlined plans to create a pan-European communications network along with its European partners, which will begin with the interconnection of their existing networks with 7,000km of new fibre. 13-Jun-1998 Packard Bell NEC is to set up a £26m computer factory in Livingston, Scotland, with employment reaching 450 by 2000. 13-Jun-1998 Alphameric is acquiring Computer 100, the developer of Epos systems for retailers, for £3.9m. 12-Jun-1998 British Telecom has applied for a licence to build a fibre optic network around Tokyo, to enable it to offer international voice calling and other services to Japanese companies. 12-Jun-1998 British Telecom is to launch a subscription-free pay-as-you-go internet service, aimed at light users who will be charged for the service as part of their ordinary phone bill. 10-Jun-1998 European Telecom has raised £4.9m in a share placing, which will be used to enhance its IT systems and set up a new distribution facility near Heathrow. 10-Jun-1998 Volex is looking to expand its telephony cables business by making acquisitions in Mexico, Brazil, India and eastern Europe. 10-Jun-1998 Electrocomponents is planning to invest £30m setting up a centralised electronic components distribution business in Japan. 09-Jun-1998 Ecsoft Group, the IT services concern, is planning a secondary listing in London in order to improve liquidity and fund future growth. 08-Jun-1998 The government has announced the launch of three venture capital funds, worth a total £240m, designed to support small high-tech businesses as part of a Europe-wide effort to build a stronger venture capital industry. 03-Jun-1998 Bank of Scotland has formed a joint venture with FI Group to provide IT services to the bank under a five-year £150m outsourcing contract. 03-Jun-1998 Cable & Wireless is considering plans to sell its mobile services division to one of the four mobile telephone network operators. 03-Jun-1998 Citibank is to offer a year's free internet access to its customers in a deal with Virgin Net. 03-Jun-1998 GEO Interactive Media is planning to raise £23m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its internet software business. 03-Jun-1998 Concurrent Technologies, the single-board computer maker, is to raise £2.5m in a share placing in order to invest in products and marketing. 02-Jun-1998 Virgin is said to be planning to move into the mobile phones market, and is discussing a possible joint venture with Cellnet. 01-Jun-1998 Policy Master, the insurance software concern, is planning a flotation on Aim which could value the company at up to £20m. 01-Jun-1998 Racal Electronics is in the final stages of discussions to sell its US-based Data Communications division, and it will delay publishing its results so that the effect of the sale can be included in this year's figures. 30-May-1998 Hull City Council is looking at the possibility of ratepayers taking a stake in Kingston Communications, in order to raise funds for expansion without the need for a flotation. 30-May-1998 British Telecom has won a £9.7m contract from RCI to manage a holiday timeshare exchange call centre in Cork, Ireland. 28-May-1998 British Aerospace is linking up with Lockheed Martin of the US to bid for a Ministry of Defence contract to build the next generation of military communications satellites, but will face competition from a joint bid by Lagardere of France and GEC-Marconi. 28-May-1998 Energis is introducing a new service called "virtual private data networking" which it claims will enable business customers to cut their network management costs by doing away with the need for equipment to be kept on their premises. 28-May-1998 Cellnet is planning a £20m marketing campaign to improve its retention of mobile phone customers, and will also start analysing customers bills to ensure that they are on the most appropriate tariff. 28-May-1998 ICL is forming an alliance with Microsoft to develop a new generation of consumer-oriented IT systems, and the move will create 1,000 new jobs in Europe. 27-May-1998 ComTel is planning to offer a flat-fee internet service to its cable TV customers in the Thames Valley later this year, which should significantly reduce the telephone bills of heavy users of the internet. 27-May-1998 The Employment Service has awarded a 10-year contract to EDS of the US for the outsourcing of its computer services, which will involve the transfer of 270 staff to EDS. 23-May-1998 Ionica has announced that it has failed to agree terms with banks for a £300m loan for the development of its radio-based telephone network, and it is now seeking a "strategic investor" which could result in a change of control of the company. 23-May-1998 Gremlin Group has bought Mainstream Interactive, the Australian computer games publisher, for £0.5m. 21-May-1998 Superscape VR is to raise £5m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its virtual reality software products. 20-May-1998 The government is to auction licences for the next generation of mobile phone networks, called universal mobile telephone systems, in the summer of 1999 and expects to raise up to £1.5bn. 19-May-1998 Lite-On Technology of Taiwan is to close down two of the three production lines at its computer monitors plant at Mossend in Scotland, with the loss of about 230 jobs, due to competition from east Asian producers. 15-May-1998 Micro Focus is looking to acquire other businesses in Europe and North America in order to boost its computer services division, and it would also consider acquiring distribution companies. 15-May-1998 British Telecom has announced plans to invest a further £800m to increase capacity for data communications and internet services. 14-May-1998 Cable & Wireless is planning to secure operating licences in France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and Germany, by the end of the year, enabling it to offer telecoms services to business customers in over 20 European cities. 14-May-1998 Lifestyle Communications, the joint venture between National Westminster Bank and European Telecom, is to introduce a new type of mobile phone that will enable retailers to use them as point-of-sale systems for swiping bank cards. 13-May-1998 Viasystems of the US is to cut 210 jobs at its printed circuit board plants in Selkirk and Galashiels. 12-May-1998 Parametric Technology Corporation of the US is in discussions with the government about donating £20m of CAD software to all of the UK's 6,000 secondary schools. 11-May-1998 SDX, the telecoms equipment supplier, has confirmed that it is in discussions that could lead to a takeover offer being made for the company. 09-May-1998 Foxteq of Taiwan is to set up a £15m plant to make enclosures for personal computers at Renfrew near Glasgow, creating an initial 300 jobs. 08-May-1998 Sanderson Group, the computer services company, is preparing to acquire a US and a UK company within the next six months. 08-May-1998 Computacenter, the computer services concern, will have a value of up to £1.15bn when it floats later this month, but only about £47m of this will be new capital. 06-May-1998 British Telecom is to run the final stages of a trial for its OnePhone service in an unnamed village near Cambridge, and it will enable customers to use the same phone number for fixed line and mobile services. 06-May-1998 Eurodis Electron has formed an alliance with Pioneer-Standard of the US in which the two companies will co-operate in purchasing, warehousing, marketing, and the distribution of electronic components. 01-May-1998 One-2-One is to offer a new mobile phone package to business subscribers that includes free daytime local calls. 30-Apr-1998 The government is planning to launch a voluntary scheme to secure safe trading on the internet, having decided against the mandatory licensing of companies. 28-Apr-1998 Scottish Trade International, the government export agency, is opening a business centre in Silicon Valley in the US to help Scottish software companies generate an additional £6m of exports over the next two years. 28-Apr-1998 JWE Telecom is raising £3.5m in a flotation in order to fund the expansion of its mobile phones wholesaling and retailing business. 28-Apr-1998 ITNet, the provider of outsourced IT services, is to raise up to £100m in a flotation this summer, in order to repay debt and fund its next stage of development. 27-Apr-1998 Toshiba is planning to take on a further 300 staff at its Plymouth factory to cope with the expected rise in demand for widescreen TVs, which is being fuelled by the World Cup and the introduction of digital TV. 27-Apr-1998 IOC International, the telecom components manufacturer, has announced that takeover talks have collapsed and it will now concentrate on going it alone. 25-Apr-1998 Orange has won a mobile telephone licence in Switzerland, as part of a consortium with Viag, Swissphone Engineering and Cantonal Bank of Vaud. 21-Apr-1998 British Telecom is planning to launch a new package of price discounts and services in July called Corporate Advance, in order to offer greater flexibility to its large corporate customers. 20-Apr-1998 British Telecom is to set up a £6m call centre in Dundee, creating 800 jobs and offering services to companies that outsource their call handling. 18-Apr-1998 Vodafone is proposing the construction of a new world headquarters for up to 4,000 staff in Newbury, but the plans are likely to face opposition from environmentalists. 18-Apr-1998 Kingston Communications, the local authority-owned telecoms company based in Hull, is planning a flotation that will value it at up to £300m, in order to raise funds for expansion. 17-Apr-1998 Cable & Wireless is selling a 20% stake in Bouygues Telecom of France, a 20% stake in its West Indies business, and a 5% stake in its North American business, to Telecom Italia as the two companies begin to build up a global partnership. 16-Apr-1998 LG and Hyundai have both warned of further delays in their plans to open semiconductor plants in Wales and Scotland due to the financial crisis in South Korea, and they are looking for international partners to help them complete the projects. 15-Apr-1998 Azlan, the computer products distributor, is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office concerning stock movements prior to its failed rights issue in June 1997. 15-Apr-1998 Cable & Wireless is discussing a possible alliance with Telecom Italia that could result in the creation of one of the world's largest carriers of international telecoms traffic. 11-Apr-1998 Orange and One 2 One are to get more marketing freedom following a decision by the telecoms industry regulator to stop forcing them to provide airtime to mobile service providers after a 12-month transition period. 10-Apr-1998 Scottish Power's Scottish Telecom subsidiary is in discussions to acquire Demon Internet, the internet service provider, for about £66m. 09-Apr-1998 Channell Commercial Corporation is in discussions to acquire AC Egerton, the supplier of plant to the telecoms industry, for about £20m. 09-Apr-1998 Filtronic Comtek, the manufacturer of microwave components for cellular telecoms systems, is to halve its 85-strong workforce at its Ferrite division in Scotland due to the effect of the strong pound. 07-Apr-1998 Mitsubishi Electric is to close its TV factory in Haddington, East Lothian, with the loss of 500 jobs. 07-Apr-1998 Laird Group's Fullarton subsidiary is to close a computer components factory in Gourock, Renfrewshire, with the loss of 350 jobs. 07-Apr-1998 SunGard of the US has dropped plans to acquire Rolfe & Nolan, the UK financial services software concern, following complaints from customers that the move would lessen competition and increase software prices. 04-Apr-1998 Energis is to set up a £100m joint venture with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, which will involve the formation of a new company called Metro-holdings and the building of telecoms networks in major UK cities. 03-Apr-1998 Delta Electronics of Taiwan is planning a £10m plant to make power supplies for computers at East Kilbride, creating 200 jobs. 31-Mar-1998 Colt Telecom is acquiring the Telecom Noord West fibre optic network in the Netherlands from Energie Noord West for £41m as part of its overseas investment programme. 31-Mar-1998 Computacenter, the computer supplier, is planning a flotation that will value it at about £900m, in order to help attract skilled workers by offering them shares and options. 30-Mar-1998 Cable & Wireless is selling its 22% stake in OCCEL, the Colombian mobile phone service, to Bell Canada International for £58m. 28-Mar-1998 British Aerospace has sold most of its 16% stake in Orange, the mobile phone operator, in order to focus on its defence business. 27-Mar-1998 Seagate Technology of the US is to invest a further £27m in its semiconductor plant near Edinburgh, creating 100 jobs. 26-Mar-1998 Ionica is looking at the possibility of bringing in equity partners and contracting out some of its activities in order to ensure it has sufficient funds to continue to roll-out out its fixed radio telephone operation. 25-Mar-1998 British Aerospace has sold its 26% stake in Orion Network Systems, the satellite system, to Loral Space & Communications, for $143m. 24-Mar-1998 Memory Corp, the computer memory company, is raising £4.5m in a share placing in order to fund reorganisation and continue its development work. 24-Mar-1998 British Telecom has begun talks with a number of potential acquisition targets in the US, and says that the US is the key to its international expansion plans. 20-Mar-1998 GEC Alsthom is to buy most of the engineering and systems activities of Alcatel Alsthom, the French telecoms group, and the deal should be completed before its June flotation. 20-Mar-1998 Pace Micro Technology has won a contract to supply set-top boxes for Microsoft's WebTV trial television service in the UK, and British Telecom has been selected as WebTV's internet access partner. 19-Mar-1998 Bowthorpe is looking to spend about £200m on two major acquisitions over the next two years, and is targeting telecoms testing in North America and temperature sensors. 19-Mar-1998 British Telecom has reached an informal agreement with China Telecom to increase co-operation and understanding between the two companies. 19-Mar-1998 Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms company, is considering plans to move head office functions to London as high taxes in Sweden are preventing it from recruiting top managers. 18-Mar-1998 LG of South Korea is said to be likely to delay its £1.3bn semiconductor project in south Wales by up to two years because of a shortage of cash. 18-Mar-1998 ARM Holdings, the microchip designer, is planning to raise £40m in a flotation that will value the group at up to £175m. 18-Mar-1998 Emerson Electric, the US electronics concern, has called off plans to acquire the remaining 49% of Astec, having failed to win the approval of non-executive directors. 17-Mar-1998 JWE Telecom, the operator of 21 mobile phone shops, is to raise £4m in a flotation this spring in order to finance further expansion. 16-Mar-1998 Orange is planning to offer a live video service over its mobile phone network within 15 months, and will also launch new domestic and office mobile phone packages with lower tariffs. 13-Mar-1998 Guardian iT, the computer disaster recovery company, is to raise £9.6m through a share placing. 11-Mar-1998 British Telecom is expected to win government approval later this year to buy out Securicor's 40% stake in Cellnet, the mobile phone operator. 11-Mar-1998 Granger Telecom is planning a flotation on Easdaq in order to raise about $24m, some of which will be used to fund development of its fixed wireless local loop technology for use in developing countries. 10-Mar-1998 Scottish Telecom, part of Scottish Power, is to invest £35m in the installation of a 1,300km fibre optic and radio network in the Highlands and Islands region. 10-Mar-1998 CMG, the computer services company, is planning to recruit a further 2,000 staff this year, but has warned of a problem with the skills shortage in the jobs market. 10-Mar-1998 Abacus Polar, the electronic components distributor, is forming an alliance with Rutronik of Germany that will enable the two companies to share stocks, improve their buying power, and supply each other's customers. 09-Mar-1998 British Telecom has started recruiting high street stores and banks for a new videophone system called Easyphone, and it expects to be able to offer it to home subscribers for under £150. 07-Mar-1998 Oftel has referred a dispute over the cost of making calls to mobile phones to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, following criticism that the operators charge too much. 06-Mar-1998 Micro Focus is in talks to acquire a number of unnamed US computer services companies, all with annual turnover of between $10m and $50m. 05-Mar-1998 Grundig is planning a £4m expansion at its Llantrisant factory in south Wales to make set-top boxes for BSkyB, creating 215 jobs. 04-Mar-1998 Vodafone and Cellnet are to invest £40m in base stations to bring mobile phones to consumers in Scotland's Highlands and Islands region. 04-Mar-1998 Kingston Communications could be facing new competition as the industry regulator has announced proposals that will encourage other telecoms companies to move into the Kingston upon Hull area. 03-Mar-1998 VI Group, the designer of CAD equipment, is planning to float on Aim in March in order to fund expansion into new markets. 02-Mar-1998 Castle Transmission is to invest £100m in new equipment having won a 12-year contract to supply digital transmission services to the BBC. 28-Feb-1998 British Telecom has won a mobile phone licence in the Netherlands in a joint venture with the national railways. 27-Feb-1998 Logica is looking to acquire computer services companies in Germany, Belgium and the US. 26-Feb-1998 Admiral is considering plans to expand into the computer services markets in the US and continental Europe through acquisition. 25-Feb-1998 Sema Group is looking to spend up to £600m on the acquisition of US companies, including those involved in IT services, telecoms, or computer products. 25-Feb-1998 VideoLogic is launching a new PowerVR 3D graphics chip for use in computers, arcade systems and set-top boxes. 23-Feb-1998 Pennant International is to raise £2m through a share placing on Aim in order to fund the expansion of its simulation equipment business. 23-Feb-1998 Price Waterhouse has dropped plans to acquire a significant stake in Origin, Philips' computer services business, having failed to agree terms for the move which would have helped it build up a broad-based professional services group. 23-Feb-1998 Atlantic Telecom is planning to raise £95m through a eurobond to fund the completion of its fixed radio access networks in Scotland and upgrade its Aberdeen cable TV network. 21-Feb-1998 Sema has won contracts worth £305m to provide computer services for the DSS's Benefits Agency Medical Service. 21-Feb-1998 Northern Telecom of Canada is to cut back production at its Paignton factory, with the loss of up to 180 jobs, due to a fall in demand for the telecoms switch that it supplies to Ionica. 21-Feb-1998 GEC has arranged a £4bn credit line to prepare for an aggressive acquisition programme, and some analysts believe it may try to buy out Siemens, its partner in the GPT telecoms joint venture. 21-Feb-1998 Fibernet is raising £3m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its telecoms network, particularly in London. 20-Feb-1998 Prestwick Holdings, the printed circuit boards company, has received a takeover approach that could lead to an offer being made for the company. 18-Feb-1998 Granger Telecom, the supplier of radio-based telecoms equipment, is planning a flotation with a value of up to £75m. 17-Feb-1998 Orange has formed a consortium with KPN to bid for Belgium's third mobile phone licence. 17-Feb-1998 Oftel is investigating new entrants to the payphones market and may force them to provide additional services such as access to other network providers and the ability to call freephone numbers. 17-Feb-1998 VI Group, the software company, is planning to raise £2.8m through a flotation on Aim that will value it at about £10m. 16-Feb-1998 British Telecom is said to be planning to end its relationship with Telefonica, and will instead compete head-on with the telecoms operator by applying for fixed-line and mobile licences in Spain. 14-Feb-1998 Cellnet has been ordered by the telecoms regulator to stop discriminating against small mobile phone service providers by paying them less than they pay the larger providers for each new subscriber. 14-Feb-1998 British Telecom has dropped plans to provide TV programmes via telephone cables, and will instead focus on the provision of services via the internet to computers and interactive TV. 13-Feb-1998 Game Retail, the computer games supplier, is considering plans for a £100m flotation later this year, although no final decision has been made. 13-Feb-1998 Tadpole Technology has raised £411,000 through a share issue to help fund the development of new technology for portable computers for field engineers. 12-Feb-1998 Vodafone is leading a consortium that is bidding £315m for Egypt's second mobile phone licence. 11-Feb-1998 Hyundai of South Korea has stopped construction work on the £1bn microchip factory in Dunfermline for four months, due to the financial crisis in Asia. 10-Feb-1998 Telemetrix has appointed investment bankers to advise on the future of GTI Corporation, its 57% owned US electronics subsidiary, which could result in the sale of the business. 10-Feb-1998 British Telecom has applied for a licence that would enable it to build a telecoms network in Japan and link Japanese companies to its Concert global carrier. 06-Feb-1998 British Telecom has opened a new £9.2m call centre in south west Belfast, and also plans to expand its presence in the Irish Republic through a joint venture with the Electricity Supply Board. 05-Feb-1998 British Telecom is planning to invest £300m in the modernisation of its network to support the expansion of its internet and data communications services. 03-Feb-1998 AST, the personal computer company recently acquired by Samsung, is to pull out of the European market for desktop computers in order to focus on notebook PCs, a move that will result in a 60% cut in jobs at its London head office. 02-Feb-1998 Datrontech has formed a joint venture with Memory Corporation called Dtec Memory Corporation, in order to supply own-brand computer memory products. 02-Feb-1998 Robotic Technology Systems is planning to leave the Ofex market in order to list on the London Stock Exchange. 02-Feb-1998 Ionica is to put expansion plans on hold while it focuses on marketing its telecoms service in areas where the network is almost complete, such as Yorkshire, the Midlands and the east. 30-Jan-1998 Siemens has indicated that it wants to review the future of its GPT telecoms joint venture with GEC, either by selling its 40% stake or by buying GEC's 60% stake. 29-Jan-1998 The government's Radiocommunications Agency has appointed NM Rothschild to advise on the auction of radio spectrum licences for mobile phones, and interest is anticipated from companies involved in media, telecoms, and entertainment. 29-Jan-1998 Applied Holographics of Tyne & Wear has awarded a £2.5m licence to Microsoft for the use of a 3D hologram that can be applied to compact discs. 29-Jan-1998 British Telecom is to take a 26% stake in a consortium called Picienne Italia to bid for Italy's third mobile telephone licence. 29-Jan-1998 TCI Corporation has secured £180,000 in grants from Sunderland City Council to set up a project to enable businesses in the region to make low-cost calls over the internet. 28-Jan-1998 Instrument Technology, the manufacturer of vacuum containers for the semiconductor industry, is being bought by a shell company called Richards Group and is listing on the Stock Exchange with a value of £5.7m. 27-Jan-1998 Aran Software has postponed plans to raise £5m with a flotation on Aim, blaming the condition of the new issues market. 27-Jan-1998 ICL, the computer systems and services company, has postponed plans for a flotation from next year until 2000, due to market conditions. 26-Jan-1998 Johnson Matthey has acquired a multi-layered printed circuit board plant in Minnesota from Universal Circuits for $10m. 26-Jan-1998 Cable & Wireless has given its support to an agreement for Hongkong Telecom, in which it holds a 54% stake, to surrender its monopoly on international services in Hong Kong six years earlier than planned in exchange for £530m compensation. 21-Jan-1998 One-2-One is looking at ways to offer both fixed and mobile communications to its customers, and will also be introducing new services for small and medium businesses later this year. 20-Jan-1998 Emerson Electric of the US is trying to acquire the remaining 49% of Astec, the electronic components company, in order to take tighter control and improve the management. 20-Jan-1998 Inmarsat and Eutelsat are planning to transform from co-operative ownership into private companies, followed by flotations next year, in order to raise funds to expand their satellite coverage. 19-Jan-1998 Seagate Technology has confirmed plans to close its plant in Clonmel, Ireland, with the loss of 1,400 jobs, due to market conditions for computer disk drives. 17-Jan-1998 British Telecom is testing a new service that will enable its competitors to offer telephone calls over BT's lines using their own brand name, thereby doing away with the need for subscribers to pay a separate bill to BT for line rental. 16-Jan-1998 Cable & Wireless is to invest £60m in the creation of a mobile phone operation in Panama, where it will compete with Bell South of the US. 16-Jan-1998 Racal Electronics has announced plans to cut 350 jobs from its US-based data communications division, with 50 of the jobs being lost in the UK. 15-Jan-1998 Superscape VR has won a £0.5m contract to develop a 3-dimensional computer game for Lego. 15-Jan-1998 British Telecom is said to be negotiating the acquisition of a 20% stake in AAPT, the third-largest Australian telecoms carrier, in preparation for a £240m takeover bid. 14-Jan-1998 Energis has won a £4m contract to supply telephone services to Lunn Poly, the travel group, over the next three years. 13-Jan-1998 Isola Werke of Germany is planning to invest £28m at its printed circuit board base factory in Cumbernauld, creating about 300 jobs. 13-Jan-1998 The Ministry of Defence is planning to reform its procedures for the development, purchase and maintenance of weapons systems in order to reduce delays and cost overruns. 12-Jan-1998 Webmedia, the independent web site developer, has gone into liquidation due to competition from large companies and small low-cost organisations. 10-Jan-1998 Cedardata, the software company, is acquiring the worldwide rights to the management information system and data factory tool kit products of PMpL for £2m. 08-Jan-1998 GTE of the US is preparing to make a major move into the European telecoms sector with talk of possible acquisitions and alliances with large companies such as British Telecom, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom. 08-Jan-1998 General Accident is ordering 4,000 network computers from IBM, the largest sale of NC machines so far in Europe, in order to reduce maintenance costs, increase flexibility and ensure year 2000 compliance. 08-Jan-1998 Orange has awarded a £240m contract to Nokia of Finland for equipment that will enable hand-held phones to access the internet, TV and home shopping. 08-Jan-1998 Vodafone is increasing its stake in Libertel, the Dutch mobile network operator, by 26.5% to 61.5% at a cost of £267m. 06-Jan-1998 Cable & Wireless is planning to raise its stake in Bezeq, Israel's state-controlled telecoms company, by 3% to 13% as it aims to become Bezeq's main long-term partner. 03-Jan-1998 Reuters has acquired a 67% stake in Marvin, the French specialist in software for analysing risk markets, for a price thought to be under £10m. 02-Jan-1998 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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