CurrentAccount

Will Eircom get left at the altar by Swisscom? Eircom shares took a hit yesterday after it emerged that the telco had lost the race for the last in the current crop of 3G mobile phone licences. The shares closed 3 per cent weaker at €2.21 amid speculation that Swisscom's interest in the Irish telco was waning.

ComReg's offer of the licence to Smart Telecom could well scupper Swisscom's indicative bid for the Irish telco, which is now in due diligence. Eircom's vaunted takeover of Meteor was the trigger for the Swiss approach, so its failure to seal the deal on 3G is highly relevant. While no-one can offer a 3G service without infrastructure, Eircom's failure to secure a licence puts it at risk of being left behind whenever 3G takes off.

But without any other bid for Eircom emerging, dropping the 3G ball would put downward pressure on the price that the Swiss may formally offer for Eircom. With six cents off the share yesterday, the market seems to think as much too. The indicative price for exclusive access to Eircom's books was a little north of €2.40 per share. Eircom was still in the frame for the 3G deal when Swisscom approached so Current Account will not be surprised if a formal offer is lower than that, or if none emerges at all.

The other factor is that the Swiss are now making noises about their reluctance to endanger their relationship with Vodafone, owner of a quarter of Swisscom Mobile. Swisscom has been to the church door before without closing a deal. Its dalliance with Eircom is beginning to look less certain than before.

Ryanair made to see 'common sense'

Ryanair has finally bowed before a group of its passengers. Under chief executive Michael O'Leary, the airline has made almost a virtue of discomfiting passengers - whether it is confused elderly passengers refused boarding after arriving at check-in without photo ID or passengers spending their flight trying to keep their feet out of vomit left by previous fliers.

However, the visually impaired lobby has forced the brash airline into a U-turn. Ryanair announced yesterday that it would henceforth change policy on carrying visually impaired passengers - at least those travelling with sighted companions - following what head of customer services Caroline Green called "an incident" earlier this year when a group of visually impaired passengers were turned away despite confirmed bookings because they exceeded the airline's threshold of four "reduced mobility passengers" per flight.

Accompanied visually impaired passengers will now be accommodated outside the threshold and will not be required to notify the airline of their disability when booking their flights. Ryanair claims it is showing the way with its "common sense change".

Exchequer's nightmare

On Tuesday, the Moriarty tribunal sat for approximately half an hour to hear evidence of little or no importance from civil servant Martin Brennan. On Wednesday, a shorter time was spent hearing equally unimportant evidence from Mr Brennan's colleague, Fintan Towey.

On both days the tribunal, which sits at 11am, had adjourned in good time for the Angelus. On both days barristers and solicitors for the following parties were present: the tribunal itself; the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources; Denis O'Brien; Michael Lowry; Dermot Desmond; and Norwegian company Telenor.

And the total cost to the exchequer? Probably something in the region of €150,000.

Dubious 'market rates'

The US State Department's website includes a lengthy introduction to Ireland, mostly aimed at those interested in the investment environment. The entry covers such matters as property law, patent rights, freedom of movement of funds and taxation.

The website notes there are no restrictions on the repatriation of profits and that "foreign exchange is easily obtainable at market rates". It then goes on to note, however, that in 2004, the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority reported that AIB had "knowingly overcharged on foreign exchange transactions for several years".

Multinationals, you can't say you haven't been warned!