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While the Internet has become as indispensable as water or electricity, Pierre Danon, CEO of Numericable, announced that the cable operator will introduce a social tariff, responding to the request of the Prime Minister.

LE FIGARO. – For 9.99 euros per month, which will service the right customers?

Pierre Danon. – The Prime Minister had asked the operators a triple play package of around 20 euros for the poor. Numericable goes beyond and offers 9.99 euros a month for 60 channels of television (DTT channels and a selection of foreign channels), Internet access at 2 Mbps and unlimited calls in metropolitan France.There are two requirements to be eligible for this offer: being beneficiary of the RSA or disabled adult allowance and live in housing benefit service unique digital Numericable.

Will you receive compensation from the state?

The universal service fund, managed by the Caisse des depots, should pay a subsidy of 4.21 euros per month per subscriber to Numericable. This package will therefore revert to 5.99 euros a month to subscribers, 4 euro is already included in the charges. I sent a letter yesterday with the offer to Prime Minister, Arcep and services Bercy. If they approve our offer within two months we could launch it this summer.

What advantage Numericable?

It is primarily a historical constant of the cable as being involved in social housing and community.On the other hand, Numericable, who will work with municipalities and departments on this job should be able to equip a large number of new homes. Some customers take the social tariff, but others choose our offerings more upscale. I think that with this offer we can win new customers. We are now at 25% market share on the recruitment of new Internet subscribers. This should enable us to progress further. Not to mention that in dealing with public housing offices, Numericable reduces acquisition costs and delinquency risks.

You had already launched in November offer "low cost" to 19.90 euros. What is the result?

This offer works very well. It represents approximately one third of our new subscribers. Auchan is also to engage the clutch on this niche, because there is a real logic to segment the market.They are not social but tender offers "low-cost targeted. For example, many people do not use the TV service yet they pay their standard Internet package at 30 euros a month. We must stop the dictatorship of the package at 30 euros, which was a stroke of genius Free, but has not moved for four years.

After Darty and Auchan Bouygues Telecom, will you welcome new operators on your fiber network?

We are in discussions with various partners, but he must first deal with the influx of new customers for our partners. Auchan has trained 1 200 hypermarkets in 72 vendors!

The picture improves Numericable does to customers?

Yes. Having been a champion of consumer complaints, admittedly, we're totally out of radar DGCCRF.The service was bad a year ago, we made a lot of work, it is now correct. And we will still improve.

Having renounced the 4th license, what are your plans in the mobile?

Our priority remains the fiber. On the mobile, we are virtual network operator Bouygues Telecom. We will soon launch a 3G and a key card offer prepaid. But we do not support the pedal fully, because we can not afford to spend millions of euros to acquire a subscriber base.In 2010-2011, Numericable focuses on profitable growth.

Are you still handicapped by the weight of your debt?

Having renegotiated our debt with the bankers in November, we loosened the noose and we are perfectly comfortable with our deadlines for repayment of 1.5 billion euros by 2014.

The connected TV is it a concern for you, whose job is to aggregate a bunch of strings?

It is a subject that we anticipated early 2009 with our range of interactive TV "2.0", and we continue to invest. We have discussions with several manufacturers of televisions. In April, Numericable present its first applications in the form of widgets available on the TV screen.We will launch thematic portals (youth, sports, entertainment …) which will become real media capable of guiding the client and recommend programs.

The crisis has sealed the budget holiday tourists. La France, the most visited country in the world, made the charge. And the hotel industry has been the first victim in 2009, according to research firm Protourisme published Thursday. It shows a decrease of 5% of overnight stays in France compared to 2008, 9 million fewer nights. This represents a shortfall of 1.5 billion euros of turnover.

Half of this amount lost on the niche hotels 4 stars whose revenue per available room fell by more than 15% because of declining attendance and lower average price per room. One third of this decrease, approximately 500 million euros, was recorded by the 3 stars with a fall of 11% of revenue per room.

The 2 star hotels and super-economy (0 and 1 star) has offset the decline in occupancy rate by an increase in average revenue per room.Nevertheless, the overall turnover of the industry is down by 300 million euros.

"It's a black year for the hotel. They talk of the campsite but outperformed the revenue it has generated are only 300 million euros, "says Didier Arino, director Protourisme.

Ile-de-France and PACA, the first victims

In detail, the Ile-de-France appears in the study as one of the most affected. The region, which weighs approximately one third of hexagonal nights, lost 4 million nights with a decrease of 6% of its annual attendance. Paris has seen its overnight decline of 1.2 million (-4%) for a total of 31.8 million nights in 2009. "A good number anyway. Paris is the capital of Europe in decline the least, "relativize Didier Arino saving account pay day loan .

The group attributes this performance to the success of its electronic book reader, the Kindle, released in a hundred countries. "Millions of people now have the Kindle, and those who have a Kindle read a lot. When we have two editions (print and digital), six editions we sell Kindle books for 10 paper, "said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.

On its forecast for first quarter 2010, Amazon is planning a sales growth of about 32 to 43%.Its quarterly revenue could be up to 7 billion dollars. Over the period, operating profit could rise by 13% to 50%, Amazon said.

The group finally warned that its Board of Directors has endorsed a program of share repurchases by the group, amounting to 2 billion dollars.

"IPad: strengths and weaknesses of the Apple tablet

According to preliminary data released this morning by Immostat-IPD, the total investment in commercial property (offices, shops, warehouses) in Ile-de-France for the past year totaled 5.2 billion euros. This figure compares with a volume of 8 billion in 2008. This is the bottom of the range anticipated by the professional last October. In fact, the last quarter that saved the furniture with a total investment of 2.54 billion euros, or nearly half the activity of the year.

Also in Ile-de-France region, which contains 70% of national activity, take-up, which agglomerates investments by enterprises for their own needs and leased, moved it to 1, 8 million square meters for all of 2009, against 2.4 million in 2008 and 2.7 million in 2007.At the same time, the supply of offices immediately available is up 6% at the beginning of the year compared to last quarter, representing 3.26 million square meters.

For 2010, even if professionals are optimistic, they believe that further improvement observed in late 2009 will depend on the quality of provision and financing needs. Many uncertainties remain, particularly on the employment front, leaving fear tougher price point operators. In terms of rental values, "the time is still correcting, notes and DTZ. After declines of 10 to 25% depending on the relevant markets, the movement should continue, says the consultancy. Accompanying measures (exemption from rents and attendance), already strengthened in 2009, should still be denser.

The European Commission was investigating since January 2008 on possible abuse of dominant position by Microsoft in Internet browsers. If Brussels is to end its investigation, the U.S. giant had to make heavy concessions, agreeing to provide European users with a choice of internet browser to its Windows operating system, then ships only with browser: Internet Explorer.

The lawsuit, initiated by Opera Software, a competitor of the firm of Steve Ballmer, was motivated illegal competitive advantage that the systematic incorporation of Internet Explorer to Windows would have given Microsoft.

Internet Explorer will suddenly face competition

The latter agreed to five years to propose to all European users in Windows versions XP, Vista and 7 to choose their browser.Firefox, Opera and Chrome, the three major browsers Internet Explorer competitors are rubbing their hands when you know that Windows team 90% of PCs worldwide.

Manufacturers of computers equipped with Windows in factory can also completely disable Internet Explorer and install a competing browser.

Microsoft chose to make concessions, risking a fine that could reach 10% of its annual turnover worldwide, is a mere 6 billion euros in fines.

"Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision with the choice of browser they use," welcomed the Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has awarded this Saturday oilfield Qourna-2 in western consortium of Russian Lukoil and Norway's StatoilHydro. With 12.8 billion of reserves, Qourna in the south, is the largest of the ten fields for auction this weekend in Baghdad.

Lukoil, StatoilHydro proposed to be paid $ 1.15 per barrel to produce 1.8 million barrels per day.

The French group Total was also a candidate. After failing on Friday another mega Majnoon field (12 billion of reserves), the multinational and thus suffers another setback. After two days of the auction will win the total operating a field much smaller than Halfaya and minority partnership with the Malaysian Petronas and China's CNPC. But as its leaders had repeated, Total was not ready to engage in Iraq at any price.The French multinational denounces discounts on their earnings than its rivals agree in hopes of winning these contracts. Absent from Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Total will have to wait before making his return to a country which has the third largest reserves of oil and where the French group was present for decades.

With five fields awarded since Friday, Iraq is certain to occur in the coming years to 4.485 million bbl / d more.

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Restructure its debt and enter the stock market with a dual listing in Hong Kong and Paris. This was the program of Russian Rusal, the world's largest producer of aluminum this year. The first step has been completed on time.

Prior to renegotiation, the group's debt amounted to 16.8 billion dollars (for a 2008 turnover of 15.7 billion dollars). It was reduced to 14.9 billion dollars. The group has completed one of its primary goals: reduce cost.

In detail, the 7.4 billion driven by international creditors (including large French banks) will be settled in two stages. The first four years, Rusal make principal repayments on the basis of its available cash. Interest will be paid partly in cash and the balance will be funded.

Then, the remaining debt will be refinanced for an additional period of three years. A similar agreement was reached with the creditors of the Russian group, which are 2.1 billion of debt, the new rate of 8-9%.

A value of 30 billion dollars

RUSAL also signed an agreement with Onexim – a leading Russian investment fund – the creditor group to the tune of 2.7 billion. The fund has agreed to convert $ 1.82 billion in a 6% shareholding in Rusal. This therefore values the company at 30.3 billion dollars.

Finally, net debt, estimated at 5 billion by counting the future interest will be subject to periodic payments by the fourth quarter 2013. The group has already indicated that some funds raised on financial markets would be used to repay debt.About 5 billion would be spent.

Oleg Deripaska, Rusal CEO and principal shareholder, welcomed "a project of such size and complexity without precedent." It remains now to get the stock exchange's business under pain of seeing nationalized. And even the Russian state does not acquire a significant share of its capital.

However, the IPO of Rusal is far from being a plain sailing. The group plans to make its debut on the coast of Hong Kong before the end of the year. A calendar that may be difficult to hold. In 2007, Rusal was considered a listing in London before giving it up.

The first group of German steel company, ThyssenKrupp announced Friday the creation of a restructuring plan to scale. Severely hit by the economic crisis that has plunged the global demand for steel, the past fiscal year was the worst in company history, the group had announced last November a loss before tax annual 2.4 billion euros. Excluding items, its loss came out to 734 million euros. So, ThyssenKrupp said Friday that it would cut 20,000 jobs worldwide by the end of September 2010, reducing the number of employees to 167,000.

German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp expects the recovery in global economy to return to the path of growth, but "this fledgling economic recovery remains fragile and we believe that improvement will be slow," said Management Board Chairman Ekkehard Schulz, ThyssenKrupp ."For 2010, the risk of a temporary downturn persists," he said. Given the lack of visibility, the group, which produces steel, submarine or lifts, the coup was adjusted slightly downward Friday its medium-term objectives. It now expects sales of between 50 and 60 billion euros, against a previous target of 60 to 65 billion euros and earnings before taxes "over 4 billion euros, rather than between 4 and 5 billion.

ArcelorMittal, the French rival ThyssenKrupp, has also warned that the recovery in 2010 would be gradual and that the environment remains difficult. This lack of visibility had forced him to deliver a very conservative forecast for the last three months of 2009

The world has reason to breathe. "Thanks to a swift and bold, which took place in an atmosphere of unprecedented political cooperation, world economic activity begun to rise again," said Monday Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a speech in London at the annual conference of the British employers' federation, the CBI. Believing that "the worst has been avoided," DSK praised the cooperation of various governments and central banks worldwide have injected trillions of dollars into the financial system since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, now considered the "big bang" that precipitated the global financial mess.

However, if this collaboration has borne fruit, it should not be abandoned while the economic recovery remains very fragile, says DSK. "I think we can limit the risk of further storms in choosing the right policies, and maintaining the successful collaboration between states," he pleaded. "We must keep alight the flame of cooperation," he started again, saying that the world is now at a "critical moment" and that "permanence of recovery will depend on decisions taken in the months come by the rulers. " Dominique Strauss-Kahn also called to fight in every possible way to stem soaring unemployment, while reaffirming that States should begin to prepare their "exit strategies".

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The OECD provides a weak recovery in Europe

The flash composite PMI index, which integrates the services and industry, has reached the highest since January 2008 to 58.4 against 54.8 in September, said Markit Economics (preliminary). This strong growth away permanently index the 50-point threshold above which economic activity is expanding.

The manufacturing index rose to 55.3 against 53 in September, its highest level since November 2006. The services index gained 4.6 points to 57.8, its highest level since February 2008. These publications are above analysts' expectations.

"France has a real resurgence of growth that seems fairly well distributed between industry and services, businesses and consumers," judge Chris Williamson, economist at Markit Economics. "We are at a level consistent with GDP growth of around 0.6% quarterly," says he.

Note that employment records its 17th consecutive month of declines.

The monthly survey of Markit and Company executives and buyers from France (FASC) is made from 750 companies in industries and services. The final indices will be published November 2 for industry and 4 services and the composite.