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Roundup-UPC hits one million customers

Friday, February 15 08:08:43

Broadband and TV company UPC Ireland said strong growth in its business continued as it passed the one million subscription mark.

The company, which provides digital TV, home phone and high-speed broadband services to customers, saw its subscriptions grow by 11 per cent year-on-year, with 988,700 customers by the end of 2012.

This week, it passed the one million milestone.

The company has 383,200 digital TV customers. The launch of UPC's on demand service in May 2012 has also proved successful for the firm, with more than 14 million views of the service in eight months.

UPC supplies broadband to more than 304,000 households, recording an 18 per cent year on year growth. The Irish Times

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Dundalk has solidified its reputation as a centre of e-commerce with yesterday's announcement by eBay that it will be creating 450 jobs there - last year PayPal announced 1,000 jobs for the Co Louth town.

"I have plans made to emigrate to England in June, but I will be applying now for one of these jobs," said Robert Quinn (30), from Ardee, a short drive from Dundalk.

Robert is father of a one-year-old boy and speaks French and Spanish. He is currently studying an international business course that involved learning Chinese.

"I worked in Navan carpets for three years and it closed and then I worked as a fork-lift driver.

"I went back to full-time education and studied cultural studies with Spanish because I thought I had more potential than just driving a forklift," he said.

He welcomed the eBay announcement, although he said he has already applied for a job with PayPal, a cousin of eBay, without success. His plans for England remain in place for the time being at least.

On the course with him in Dundalk Institute of Technology is Tomas Wilkinson (30), who is approaching the first anniversary of being made redundant by Telefonica O2 Ireland. The Irish Times

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UK-based Invesco Asset Management has become a major shareholder in Aer Arann, the Irish Independent has learned. The airline underwent a major ownership overhaul before Christmas as chairman Padraig O Ceidigh, who'd been the face of the airline for almost 20 years, sold the bulk of his remaining stake in the business and stepped back from his involvement in it.

Aer Arann - which now operates all its flights under the Aer Lingus regional brand through a franchise agreement with the former state-owned airline - emerged from examinership in 2010 with a deal that saw UK logistics group Stobart take a small stake in the firm.

Businessman Tim Kilroe Jnr also invested in Aer Arann as part of that process. However, he is no longer a shareholder in the business. The Irish Independent

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Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson, of accountants KPMG, were appointed joint special liquidators to the former Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide last week after the Government held an emergency session in the Dail to have the bank wound up.

A spokesman for the pair has said that it was important that IBRC customers who had outstanding loans continued to make payments.

"The contractual terms and conditions of customer mortgages and other borrowings do not change as a result of the appointment of the special liquidators and all debts owing to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Limited will remain due and enforceable," he said. The Irish Independent