mmO2 to share 3G burden with T-Mobile

The European Commission has cleared proposed 3G network sharing agreements for mmO2 and T-Mobile. The agreements were filed for approval early this year and the Commission found that the benefits of sharing network elements would lead to a faster network roll out without impacting on competition. Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said: 'Such co-operation deals can bring benefits for the consumer in terms of a faster introduction of new services, more competition and a lesser impact to the environment. ...more

Google News hits the UK

The world's biggest search engine Google has introduced a UK specific version of its Google News service. Based around the current Google News service that incorporates news from some 4,500 news sources, the UK version offers prominence to British business, political, entertainment and sports news updated constantly. Generated entirely automatically, Google News UK allows users to browse headlines and photos with categories such as World, UK, Business, Entertainment, Technology and Sport. ...more

Comment: Praying for electronic music distribution

There's never been a better time to be an American lawyer, especially if you specialise in electoral law or copyright infringement. I've lost track of the Florida recounts and of the number of music industry lawsuits lobbed in the direction of Napster and MP3.com. ...more

Webbies reward social networking

The annual Webby awards have recognised the trend towards social networking and web applications. Overall, (as they say at the Oscars) it was also a good night for the Brits which clearly had nothing to do with the fact that TV chef Jamie Oliver and David Bowie were among the judges as well as Simpsons creator Matt Groening. The Webbies, now in their tenth year, are seen as the online equivalent of the Oscars. ...more

Sony buys video sharing site

Sony's movie division has acquired Grouper, a website that lets users watch, share and create video in a thinly-veiled attempt to hop on the YouTube bandwagon. Sony Pictures Entertainment will pay $65 million for Grouper's peer-to-peer video sharing network, which enables downloads of uncut original video to be shared by its members. Grouper users can browse videos, post them to a wide variety of third-party websites - such as MySpace, Blogger and Friendster - and upload them to mobile devices including PSPs and iPods. ...more