Today’s Newspaper Cuttings
29 September 2015
Today’s online news timesofmalta.com Vodafone says Liberty Global tie-up talks ended – Vodafone Indirect GO to deliver BOV fibre network – GO Direct
independent.com.mt Final season of Downton abbey on GO Stars HD – GO Direct
josannecassar.com Vodafone Survey: 43% of teens say cyberbullying worse problem than drug abuse – Vodafone CSR Direct
Vodafone in the news
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Vodafone CSR Direct josannecassar.com 25 September 2015 € 116
VODAFONE SURVEY: 43% OF TEENS SAY CYBERBULLYING WORSE PROBLEM THAN DRUG ABUSE More than half of teenagers think cyberbullying is worse than face-to-face bullying and 43 per cent believe it to be a bigger problem for young people than drug abuse, a global online survey of around 5,000 teenagers across 11 countries* has revealed. The Vodafone survey, commissioned from YouGov, found that an average of around one in five (18%) teens across the countries surveyed had been cyber-bullyed and, as a result: 41 per cent said cyberbullying made them feel depressed or helpless (also 41%) 26 per cent felt ‘completely alone’ and 18 per cent experienced suicidal thoughts 21 per cent had ‘not gone to school’ and 25 per cent closed down their social media accounts 38 per cent said they did not tell their parents or guardians, as they felt ashamed (32%), scared their parents would get involved (40%), or worried what their parents might do (36%). The Survey also highlighted the helplessness that many teens feel in the face of this threat, with 43 percent of those surveyed saying that they would find it hard to support a friend who had been bullied on social media, as they ‘could not find the right words’ to show support. 72 per cent of teens said they would be likely to use an emoji to express compassion or support for friends being cyberbullied. In response to the findings, Vodafone has today launched the #BeStrong anti-cyberbullying emoji initiative, which involved the creation of a suite of ‘support emojis’ to raise awareness of the importance of conveying compassion, sympathy and support when friends are being bullied online. The emojis were chosen by the 4,720 teens surveyed from a wide selection designed by Vodafone and its anti-bullying panel as their favourite symbols for compassion and support. The favourite two sets of emojis can be seen below. Vodafone has also used the findings of the Survey to develop a #BeStrong anti-cyberbullying learning resource which consists of 10 learning modules covering a range of areas, including privacy, coding, gaming, safety and other areas. .Vodafone is also talking to the major emoji app and social media platforms towards featuring the emojis on their platforms in the near future.
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Vodafone CSR Direct josannecassar.com 25 September 2015 â‚Ź 116
This major initiative forms part of Vodafone’s ongoing successful child online protection initiatives across its markets. Earlier this year, Vodafone Malta also launched its own project through the Vodafone Malta Foundation. The key element of this project is a brand new website, ibrowsesafely.com.mt, as well as its associated Facebook page, which both act as interactive online platforms where parents, grandparents and educators can find the latest information on issues related to internet use and safety online. The project also includes an outreach programme. The results of the Vodafone cyber-bullying Survey will be featured in detail in an up-coming ibrowsesafely.com.mt campaign, and efforts are also underway to distribute the #BeStrong anti-cyberbullying learning modules in schools.
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Vodafone Indirect timesofmalta.com 29 September 2015 €
Tuesday, September 29, 2015, 00:01 by Paul Sandle, Reuters
Vodafone says Liberty Global tie-up talks ended
Branding for Vodafone on the exterior of a shop in London. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters Talks between Vodafone and Liberty Global about exchanging assets to better compete in Europe’s converging mobile, broadband and TV markets collapsed yesterday because they could not agree on the value of their businesses. Vodafone, the world’s second-biggest mobile operator, said in June it was considering swapping some assets with Europe’s biggest cable company, a move that would enable the groups to sell packages of mobile, fixed-line, broadband and television increasingly offered by rivals. Liberty chairman John Malone, who saw the companies as a “great fit”, said earlier this month they were struggling to progress with the plan, telling Bloomberg that “conceptually there could be some real value created but realistically we haven’t been able to figure out a way to do that that’s mutually successful”. Both sides confirmed yesterday that negotiations had terminated. The talks foundered on a failure to agree the relative value of assets on both sides, according to a person close to the discussions. “We have not got there today, but we are not closing the door on potential discussions in the future,” the person said.
Companies struggling to progress with plan Shares in Vodafone, which had fallen 10 per cent since the talks were revealed in June, were trading down 3.7 per cent at a four-month low of 209.5 pence at 0745 GMT. Liberty Global, down eight per cent in the same period, closed on Friday at $48. Analysts at Jefferies, noting that the talks could resume, said they continued to see Vodafone as having weak stand-alone prospects. “Today’s news will surely disappoint near-term, but we think investors may come to believe it represents a delay, not the end of the process,” they said.
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Vodafone Indirect timesofmalta.com 29 September 2015 €
The companies have never specified which assets were being discussed, but bankers and industry analysts said in June the German and British markets would be the top of the agenda. Vodafone and Liberty are first and second in the German cable television markets, owning Kabel Deutschland and Unity Media respectively. The talks included Liberty Global’s German cable assets, and cable assets elsewhere in Europe, according to the person close to the matter. Analysts had said a tie-up in Britain, where Liberty owns cable and broadband company Virgin Media, would have made sense. Vodafone is facing an acceleration in convergence in its home market, after Britain’s biggest fixed-line and mobile operators BT and EE agreed to merge earlier this year.
Other stories in the news
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GO Direct independent.com.mt 25 September 2015 â‚Ź 145
Final season of Downton Abbey on GO Stars HD Friday, 25 September 2015, 16:36
The multi award winning Downton Abbey returns to GO Stars HD for its final season. The final season, which is being broadcast just one week after being shown for the first time in the UK, promises more drama, intrigues, twists and turns as the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them are transformed by the onset of the modern age.
Starring Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey has won a string of awards including three Golden Globes, The sixth and final season will take viewers up to 1925 and an emotional farewell. More information on GO Stars HD, which is available from as little as â‚Ź6.99 per month to existing GO TV customers, can be obtained from all GO retail outlets and exclusive resellers, by calling Freephone 80072121 or visiting www.go.com.mt. A full schedule for GO Stars HD can also be found athttps://www.go.com.mt/personal/tv/channels/what-s-on-tv
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GO Direct timesofmalta.com 27 September 2015 € 230
Sunday, September 27, 2015, 00:01
Company briefs
GO to deliver BOV fibre network GO will be designing and building a nationwide dedicated Gigabit fibre network for Bank of Valletta, to be rolled out over the coming months. This will future-proof BOV’s communications infrastructure, enabling it to deliver more and better interactive services to their customers. The multimillion-euro project agreement was signed by GO’s CEO Yiannos Michaelides and Bank of Valletta CEO Charles Borg. The roll out of the BoV nationwide Gigabit fibre network will take place alongside the ongoing rollout by GO of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), which is already bringing the next generation of internet services to both residential and commercial customers. The €50 million investment in FTTH was launched by GO last April and a total of 33,000-plus households in Malta will be connected by the end of this year.