Eircom scores with app for sports calendar

EIRCOM HAS launched a new sports calendar application that will enable its webmail customers to automatically diarise hundreds of sporting events.

Developed by Irish software company, Diaryplan.com, the free My Events application will enable sports fans to add fixtures from over 100 sporting schedules to their webmail calendars.

From the calendar entry, fans can then link directly, via their desktop or mobile handset, to online coverage of events including Setanta Sports coverage of the Barclays Premiership, Six Nations rugby, golf, motor racing and tennis. They can also forward events to their friends.

Diaryplan.com is one of four high potential start-ups last year recognised by Eircom’s Web Innovation Fund.

Under the fund, which supports innovative web applications in the Irish internet industry, Diaryplan.com was awarded €25,000 in cash, consultancy and mentoring to bring their product to market.

Their deal with Eircom sees Diaryplan.com’s application made available to the telco’s 400,000 webmail customers.

“Receiving the award has helped us to accelerate the growth of our business,” says Pat Walsh, who founded Diaryplan.com in 2007.

“By working with Eircom, we now have a test site we can show to other potential customers.”

The Dublin-based company employs four people in Ireland and a team of up to 60 globally.

While Eircom customers will now have access to 100 calendars featuring popular Irish and European events, Diaryplan.com has compiled and maintains 2,000 calendars for sports including NFL, NBA, baseball and Nascar.

Dervilla Mullan, director of online at Eircom said, “we know that watching sport is one of the main uses of broadband amongst our customers. By working with Diaryplan.com, we hope that enabling our customers to keep track of their favourite fixtures will further enhance our sports proposition.”