THE federal government has refused to provide $20 million in seed funding for the national e-conveyancing system.

(Telecompaper) Telecom New Zealand saw its profit's sink by 32 percent in the financial year ended 30 June. EBITDA dropped 6.5 percent year-on-year, in line with guidance, to NZD 1.77 billion from NZD 1.89 billion in the prior year. Revenues totalled NZD 5.59 billion, down 2 percent from NZD 5.67 billion. The decline in revenue was primarily driven by declines in retail and the Australian unit AAPT, which were offset by growth in wholesale and international segments. Telecom's net earnings were down 32 percent to NZD 483 million, through a combination of a 20 percent increase in depreciation and amortisation costs, and a 32 percent increase in net finance expenses. These increases were partially offset by a 37 percent decrease in adjusted income tax expense. Telecom ended the financial year with 165,000 customers for its XT-branded WCDMA network, which showed positive early average usage trends, such as a 20 percent increase in voice traffic, and a 300 percent increase in data download

(Telecompaper) Israel's Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling and will not allow Bezeq to take over satellite broadcaster Yes. According to Globes Online, the Supreme Court accepted the petition of the Antitrust Authority and Yes minority shareholder Eurocom Group against a ruling by the Restrictive Trade Practices Tribunal to permit the takeover, with conditions. By denying Bezeq's attempt to increase its stake in Yes to over 50 percent, thereby acquiring the controlling interest in the company, the court has ended Bezeq's effort to merge with Yes. Bezeq owns 49.8 percent of Yes, Eurocom owns 32.6 percent, Polar Communications owns 7.9 percent, Gilat Satellite Networks owns 5.01 percent and Lidan owns 4.66 percent.

(Telecompaper) The associations of alternative German telecom operators Breko and VATM have ended negotiations with Deutsche Telekom about access to its VDSL network without reaching an agreement. Alternative operators need an agreement for access to DeTe's VDSL network, so they can deploy their own VDSL services. Both parties could not reach a consensus about a co-investment model before the requested regulatory decisions are made. VATM and Breko called on the German regulator BNA to develop a framework with fair and competitive prices that provide incentives for all market participants and investors alike to invest in further broadband expansion in Germany.

(Telecompaper) The Li Ka-shing Foundation, run by Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka-shing, has confirmed its participation in the latest funding round of free music streaming service Spotify. The investment gives the Foundation a minority stake in Spotify. A Foundation spokesperson told Forbes that it would have one seat on Spotify's board, which will be held by Frank Meehan, CEO of Hutchison Whampoa-owned handset maker INQ Mobile. This suggests that Li aims to link Spotify with his telecoms operations, which could see Spotify offered through 3 Group companies or integrated with INQ phones.

(Telecompaper) BT Openreach has signed a letter of intent with a JV between Carillion and Telent for support services worth around GBP 1 billion. The letter of intent is for a future contract to provide nationwide support services for Openreach, the local access network division of BT. The JV will deliver a range of services across Openreach's five regions - London and Home Counties, the South East, Midlands, Wales and West, the North, and Scotland. These will include complex support and network installation services, asset management and maintenance, together with other associated works. The contract is expected to be agreed and signed within the next two months.

Sitting in a classroom, listening to students explain their approach to an assignment to develop an initiative to impact the lives of a billion people over 10 years, one could be forgiven for taking it all with a grain of salt. After all, student projects like this are usually peppered with holes, naive assumptions, and unrealistic goals.

THE Future Fund will not sell any more Telstra shares for at least another six months, the fund's chairman, David Murray, says.