- (
) Commander could be Telecom target
AAPT-PowerTel, an Australian subsidiary of Telecom, has hinted at interest in the troubled Commander Communications after predicting further consolidation in the industry over the next 18 months.AAPT-PowerTel has boosted its alliance with Macquarie Telecom - in which it has a 10 per cent stake - after signing a three-year deal to provide $A100 million of services a year.
More than $A300 million has been wiped from Commander's market value since April, after the company shocked investors with three profit downgrades.
Yesterday AAPT-PowerTel's chief executive, Paul Broad, said he would "still look at them" should the opportunity arise, after admitting to examining Commander more than a year ago when he was boss of the stand-alone PowerTel.
But he emphasised that for "us to do something now would be a big ask" because of Commander's high debt levels and his primary focus on integrating AAPT and PowerTel. More>>
- (
) Feeling sleepy may lie in your genes
Washington, Oct 18 : Ever wonder why you just love to sleep? Well, researchers say that the answer may lie in your genes.The researchers made the suggestion after finding that the genes responsible for the 24 hour body clock influence not only the timing of sleep, but also appear to be central to the actual restorative process of sleep."We still do not know why we benefit from sleep, or why we feel tired when we are 'lacking' sleep, but it seems likely that sleep serves some basic biological function for the brain such as energy restoration for brain cells or memory consolidation," said Dr Bruce O'Hara of the University of Kentucky, one of the neuroscientists on the study."We have found that clock gene expression in the brain is highly correlated to the build-up of sleep debt, while previous findings have linked these genes to energy metabolism. More>>
- (
) Competitive carrier Paetec buys McLeodUSA
Telecom carrier consolidation in the U.S. trickled down to competitive service providers on Monday as Paetec Holding Corp. agreed to acquire McLeodUSA, creating a company that will serve businesses in most of the country's largest metropolitan areas. . More>>