Portuguese government wants to keep influence over Portugal Telecom
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The Portuguese government reportedly wants to retain some control over the fixed line network of Portugal Telecom even if a hostile takeover bid for the company is successful.
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The telecommunications company is said to be in negotiations, in what may be the latest round of deal making in its industry.
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Portugal is deciding in a national referendum Sunday whether to discard its strict abortion law, a battle that pits the Socialist government against conservative parties and the Catholic Church.Comment
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(InfoWorld) - The European Union's 27 national telecom authorities must submit plans to regulate the single European market by Feb. 16Â or face ceding those powers to the European Commission, Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding has warned. The Commission wants the national regulators to join forces to form an E.U.-wide independent body akin to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. It gave them until mid February to submit plans so that it could draft legislation by July. "A European Union-wide regulator would be a temporary body. It would be disbanded once the transition to a single competitive telecoms market is over," said Martin Selmayr, Reding's spokesman, on Monday. Several of the national regulatory bodies have failed to prove they are independent from their governments and incumbent monopoly phone companies. Currently, the national regulators enforce Europe-wide telecom rules in their own countries. However, they take different positions in interpreting the same rules. The U.K., for example, has cracked down on former monopoly provider BT Group, while Commission officials complain that Germany has allowed Deutsche TelekomÂ to keep a grip on the fixed-line local loop and even receive permission to build a high-speed Internet network without sharing access with competitors. Some countries are creating their own telecom laws without consulting their E.U. neighbors. The German regulator, for example, has failed to stop the German government from proposing a law that would grant the former monopoly Deutsche Telekom protection from competition. Other countries have failed to transpose European telecom rules into their national statute books. In a letter to all national regulators sent at the end of last year, Reding warned that failure to submit a workable proposal for an FCC-type organization by Feb. 16 would leave her no choice but to propose greater authority for the Commission. Reding is conducting a review of all the laws agreed in the late 1990s designed to forge a single European telecom market out of all the national ones, with open competition throughout the E.U.
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The U.K. mobile giant wants to find a way to disentagle the Czech wireless and fixed-line businesses.
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The armed Basque separatist group ETA has backed a call for dialogue with the Spanish government put forward by its political wing.
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In a process that could last a year or more, several organizations said they will press regulators to place conditions on the telecommunications mergers to help ensure robust Internet competition.
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The Nigerian telecoms regulator is  working on plans to allow mobile phone subscribers to keep the  same number when they change networks in a bid to force  providers to improve services, its top executive said on  Monday.
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BRUSSELS, Jul 5 (IPS) - Portugal, the new holder of the European  Union's rotating presidency, has promised that Africa will  be one of its key priorities for the next six months.
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The Portuguese government has resigned to avoid turf battles with President Jorge Sampaio in the run-up to snap elections in February.
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The Thai military is pushing to regain control of a phone company sold to Singapore by former Thai leader.
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Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said on Sunday he would ask parliament to vote to lift a ban on abortion despite a referendum on the issue looking likely to fail due to low voter turnout.
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The parents of Madeleine McCann say they are to remain in Portugal for the time being as they search for their daughter.
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TAP-Portugal is in talks to buy a stake in rival airline Portugalia from financial services group Grupo Espirito Santo, the Portuguese flag carrier said,
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French conglomerate wants to build its presence in domestic telecom market, confirming talks.
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Spain&#39;s Telefonica, which jointly controls top Brazilian mobile operator Vivo with Portugal Telecom, has made an offer for outright control, the Spanish telecoms giant told the Financial Times Tuesday.
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InfoWorld - Vodafone Group intends to keep its stake in Verizon Wireless, despite a proposal submitted by a large shareholder recommending a change in the holding.