LONDON: U.K. cable television firm NTL is ready to offer 10Mbps as the standard speed for broadband customers. There will be no additional cost for the service. The company will upgrade its subscribers with 3Mbps service first, which will be completed by the year-end.

NTL is also aiming high. It is confident it can further improve the speeds to 30 Mbps or even 50 Mbps using its cable network or through ADSL2+ DSL broadband connections. Then, there are other services in the pipeline, like high-definition TV, 1000-channel global radio, domestic video conferencing, global gaming, low cost telephony and video e-mail.

The company’s chief executive Simon Duffy feels he will be able to move all its broadband subscribers to 10 Mbps by 2006. NTL’s network connects 97.9 million homes, while it has nearly three million residential customers. The number of broadband customers in the U.K. is 1.4 million.

NTL said its plan will enable a customer to match speed, usage allowance and price to their individual needs. A new user can straightaway log in to 10Mbps connection without any hassles.

“Our broadband services will become amongst the most innovative in the world and certainly well ahead of anything else in the UK,” said Duffy.

In the U.K., broadband constitutes 50.7 per cent of net connections. UK Online, the net service provider owned by Easynet, became the first to offer 8Mbps broadband at the end of 2004, while another provider, Bulldog, upgraded customers from 4Mbps to 8Mbps at no extra cost.

Healthcare giant Bupa has brought out the nursing home business, ANS, in a deal reportedly worth £328 million. The Associated Nursing Services PLC chain runs 44 facilities that are largely purpose-built homes for the elderly. The business, which is owned by brothers Nick and Surindar Dhandsa, is estimated to be Britain’s seventh largest company.

Dr Nick Dhandsa and his two brothers are in possession of about two-thirds of the company, with the rest of the stock being held by family friends and other directors. Mark Ellerby, the managing director of Bupa Care Homes, was elated at beating off stiff competition from Blackstone to acquire the NAS chain; “We are delighted to be able to announce the acquisition of ANS today. ANS is one of the finest care home groups in the UK and a very successful business, and this acquisition will help us to improve the range of care services we offer to our residents,” he said.

ANS chairman Dr Nick Dhandsa set up the homes in 1981. “I got royally hacked off with the NHS and decided to set up a healthcare business,” he commented. They were valued at just over £29 million in 2000, when the family acquired controlling interest in the business. Current estimations place ANS’ annual turnover at £90 million with an operating profit of £30 million.

Bupa will also take on a debt of around £100 million as a part of the deal. “Bupa is the leading player in this sector with a wealth of experience and, like ANS, has a reputation for quality. This is a positive move for our residents and our employees,” Dr. Dhandsa commented. He however expressed a wish to hold on to a cosmetic surgery facility in west London. “We set it up over the course of last year and are looking to keep the business and grow it,” Dhandsa said. “Cosmetic surgery is a good business to be in.”

In the backdrop of the bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, it would be natural to expect that the tourism to that place would be drastically reduced. But in a surprising statement, tour operators have said that they have not had as many cancellations as they expected in the aftermath of the bombings.

Top tour operator Thomas Cook has said that it would waive amendment fees for people wanting to switch their destinations away from Egypt and consider each such request on a case-by-case basis. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website has warned travelers to Turkey and Egypt that a substantial threat exists in those countries and that travelers who still choose to go there do so at their own risk. Three Britons have so far been confirmed dead in the Sharm bombings while another seven are listed as missing.

However, apart from asking travelers to remain vigilant Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw has asked them to go on as they normally would. In this situation, the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said that tour operators could continue to take bookings for holidays in Sharm el-Sheik, “The FO is not advising against travel to the area and, as such, tour operators’ normal terms and conditions apply unless the tour operator is unable to provide the contracted services,” said an ABTA spokesman. Customers, who were scheduled to halt at the Ghazala Gardens Hotel in Namma Bay, are being accommodated elsewhere as that particular hotel has been badly hit by the blasts.

Harry Helps, a spokesman for Thomson said, “Bookings to Egypt will be down for the remainder of the summer, but Egypt is quick to recover, we’re hoping bookings will be back to normal for the peak winter season.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that post the 7/7 London bombings, the UK has been hit with a £150 million loss as visitors to the country are expected to reconsider traveling to the UK.

LONDON: Actress Cameron Diaz won a libel she filed against British newspaper the Sun for an article contending she had a “romantic relationship with a TV producer, Shane Nickerson. The star, whose roles in “Charlie’s Angels” and “Shrek” are legion, got an apology and an undisclosed sum as damages.

The Sun article said Cameron, 32, who is dating singer Justin Timberlake, and Nickerson, who is married and has a daughter, “enjoyed more than just a professional relationship”. Cameron sued the newspaper accusing its article is without any substance and it had damaged her reputation.

Cameron’s lawyer Simon Smith told libel judge David Eady that the paper in its article on 12 May 2005 said Cameron was seen along with Nickerson stopping behind bushes in Santa Monica, California.

The newspaper, said Smith, has subsequently conducted investigations and has found that its report is baseless. It now accepts that the relevant incident “involved no more than Ms Diaz giving a friend a goodbye hug and any suggestion of a romantic involvement is entirely untrue and without any substance whatsoever”. It has apologized to the star and admitted the allegations were unfounded and should not have been published. It has also agreed to publish a “prominent” apology.

Smith said the article had damaged his client’s personal and professional reputation and had caused distress to her, Timberlake, Nickerson and his wife. The paper had agreed to pay the actor “substantial, undisclosed damages and to reimburse in full the legal costs incurred by her in pursuing this matter.

“In those circumstances and in light of this vindication my client is prepared not to proceed any further against The Sun newspaper.” The paper said the article was based on a previous report in the National Enquirer magazine of the U.S.

Smith said the settlement did not concern National Enquirer and the proceedings against this publication will continue.

In a separate case, John Rutter, a photographer, who had taken pictures of a topless Cameron before she became a star, and attempted to sell them back to her for $3.5 million, was found by a U,S. court as attempting to blackmail her and was convicted on Monday last.

LONDON: Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce defied expectations and posted a 54 per cent increase in profits for the first half of the year, pre-taxation.

The company’s pre-tax profits were 260 million pounds against analysts’ predictions of 229 million pounds, The company said the strong demand for aircraft engines from airlines had contributed to
the show.

The company will pay an increased dividend — by 5 per cent — for the first time since 2001. It pays in non-ordinary B shares instead of dividend to save money on taxes.

For the half-year under review ending 30 June, the company recorded sales of 3.18 billion pounds, an increase of 14 per cent on an underlying basis. Civil aerospace requirements contributed to 64 per cent of the revenue. Its defence, marine, energy and financial services divisions too showed higher revenues. The defence business, catering mainly to the U.S. Department of Defense, had its profits go up from 12 million pounds to 94 million pounds, while profits in marine division rose by four million pounds to 39 million pounds.

Its average net debt for the half year was reduced to 377 million pounds from 626 million a year earlier, while its order book had a record value of 21.9 billion pounds, Chief executive Sir John Rose told news persons in a conference call, “We are pleased with the first-half results, I think they represent very good progress in all the major elements of the business.”

Said Sir John, “We remain on target to generate continued growth in profits and reduction of average net debt in 2005.” Rolls Royce is hoping that the Airbus A350, set for launch in 2010,
will have a Rolls engine.

Sir John lamented the lack of research and development facilities in Britain as a result of which its ideas are turned into workable products outside. He pointed out that Rolls Royce’s substantial
product development is based in Germany. “The Government is doing the right thing in funding universities but industry is where ideas get turned into wealth,” said Sir John.

He said the issue is of vital importance as low cost countries have forced the industry to specialise in “high value added” products. This needs huge R&D; expenditure and the company spent 147 million pounds in the first half (almost 50 per cent of its turnover).

He also highlighted how the low cost economies of India and China are producing four million graduates every year compared with 250,000 in the U.K. Rolls Royce’s competitor GE has two of its four R&D; centres located in India and China.

Rolls Royce may not move any of its R&D; activities to developing countries, because “we are not very sensitive to labour costs as we’re high value added”, but it may think of drawing on the “global pool of engineers”.

PARIS: Starwood Capital Group LLC of the United States has reached an agreement with the French hotel and champagne group Taittinger to buy out its business in a deal worth about €1.2billion (£834m).

The US property and hotel investment group will now own the 14 luxury hotels that were the pride of the Taittinger group. These hotels include the Crillon and the Lutetia in Paris as well as the Martinez in Cannes. Starwood also gains control over the Campanile and Première Classe economy chains. The group said that its main interest was in the Société du Louvre, the second-largest hotel network in Europe rather than the champagne business of Taittinger. Hence, Starwood would sell that arm of business as soon as it found appropriate buyers. To this effect, Barry Sternlicht, Starwood’s chairman and chief executive sought help to find buyers for the champagne business, “We welcome the Taittinger family’s advice and counsel as we work to ensure that the company’s prized champagne business finds an appropriate home,” he commented.

However, as a part of the deal, the Taittinger family could try to buy back the champagne business if it felt inclined to do so. However, there would be a race with drinks group Pernod Ricard, which has evinced an interest in the champagne business.

Starwood has brought 65 per cent of Groupe Taittinger under which it also gets a 44 percent stake in the hotel business. The group said that it would also launch a bid to buy out the remaining shares from firms, which are listed in Paris.

The Société du Louvre has also got a majority stake in Baccarat crystal, the luxury goods brand. Commenting on the future plans for the hotel chain, Mr. Sternlicht said, “We look forward to building on the company’s proud heritage by growing its economy hotel business in France and into new markets, particularly Eastern Europe.” It is rumored that he is planning to invest €100 million in order to upgrade the 14 luxury hotels.

LONDON: Renowned Franco-Polish director and film maker Roman Polanski won the libel he filed against Vanity Fair over an article alleging he had attempted to seduce a Scandinavian “beauty” in New York as he was leaving for the funeral of his eight-month pregnant wife Sharon Tate, who was murdered in August 1969.

A jury in London’s high court on Friday awarded him 50,000 pounds in damages.

The trial, extending over a week, saw sensational revelations of the 71-year-old director’s sexual escapades during the Sixties and a courtroom drama when at one point, giving evidence over a video link, the director wept. There was a history element too, a sort of a precedent in legal formalities, when he became the first to sue through the video link from another country, France, where he is residing now. The trial was permitted after the House of Lords ruled that he should not be denied access to justice despite his self-imposed exile since 1978. Polanski also got costs estimated at 1.5 million pounds.

The director may have faced extradition if he had appeared in a London court as he is wanted by the U.S. legal enforcers in connection with a sex crime admitted by him involving a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He had fled the U.S. in 1978 and cannot be extradited from France.

Immediately after the verdict, Polanski said in a statement from his Paris home: “It goes without saying that, whilst the whole episode is a sad one, I am obviously pleased with the jury’s verdict today.

“Three years of my life have been interrupted. Three years within which I have had no choice but to relive the horrible events of August 1969, the murder of my wife, my unborn child and my friends.

“The memory of my late wife Sharon Tate was at the forefront of my mind in bringing this action.” Tate was stabbed by the Charles Manson “family”.

Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair’s editor, expressed surprise over the jury decision. He said it is “outrageous that this story is considered defamatory given the fact that Mr. Polanski cannot be here because he slept with a 13-year-old girl a quarter of a century ago.

“Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see how the wheels of British justice move. I wish Mr. Polanski well.”

Polanski had admitted having sex with a woman four weeks after Tate’s murder and seeking solace in sex with teenaged girls from a finishing school in Gstaad, Switzerland later.

Polanski’s private life was the focus of attention for much of the trial, with Vanity Fair attempting to persuade the jury that he was perfectly capable of “callous indifference” to Tate’s memory and had no reputation to hurt in the first place.

His lawyer John Kelsey-Fry argued that Polanski was clearly distraught at the time of his wife’s murder.

Vanity Fair had accused Polanski of propositioning a woman on the way to the funeral, but conceded it did not happen on the way to the funeral but two weeks later. It alleged he had told the woman “I’ll make you the next Sharon Tate”.

Actress Mia Farrow, deposing for the director, said the incident never happened.

Winning the Oscar for his movie The Pianist in 2003, Polanski had listed a string of sexual conquests that began within a month of the death of Tate, 26. But he said it is an “abominable lie” on the part of the magazine to claim that, at a dinner at Elaine’s Restaurant in New York while he was en route to Tate’s funeral in Los Angeles, he had used her memory as a “tool of seduction”.

Polanski has now been married for 17 years to his third wife, French actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

It’s 11:00 and there’s no news of Steve and you are worried about him. Sounds familiar? Welcome to the world of parents who go through hell worrying about where their kids are. Do not despair for help is on its way. Hoping to cash in on the digital wave, mTrack Services have devised a system called KidsOK. By using this novel service, parents can keep track of their kids 24 hours a day.

The company claims that they can trace the location of any mobile phone within a minute. Anxious parents should send a text message to 60777 and add their kids’ name at the end of the message, for example, ‘ping Steve.’ Within minutes parents will be able to receive a text message as well as a mini-map of the location where the mobile phone is currently located. The location can be pinpointed to within 500 meters in urban areas and up to five kilometers in rural areas.

KidsOK CEO and co-founder Richard Jelbert feels that this particular service would be a boon to parents who can trace their child’s’ location without disturbing him/her, “If the child doesn’t pick up your call this gives you enough information to know if they are at a friend’s house, in the school area or perhaps near home,” Jelbert said. This service has received the thumbs-up from children’s charity Kidscape.

To avail the service, which can work only through the parent and child’s mobile phones, it is mandatory that both the parent as well as the child agree to the tracking. All numbers will be encrypted within KidsOK server to ensure maximum privacy to the users. The next step is to verify that the mobile phones belong to the registered users and after this is accomplished, parents can keep track of their child’s location all through the day without him/her being aware of it. “The KidsOK service is based on encouraging trust and co-operation between parent and child, striking a balance between giving kids their freedom and knowing where they are,” Jelbert concluded.

The KidsOK mobile location pack is priced at £39.95 and is available across the UK from this week onwards. The pack will also be sold at select outlets such as Bhs, Boots and Millets stores. Mobile operators such as Orange, Vodafone, T-mobile and O2 have already enabled the service on their phones.