Also: Qwest expands business VoIP service; study says few large organizations use instant messaging
Last week Leucadia National filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying it has sold all its shares of MCI stock. Leucadia owned about 5% of MCI and sold its share for a pre-tax profit of about $20 million. The document says this sale “should not be interpreted to mean that [Leucadia] is no longer interested in acquiring control of MCI, but no assurance can be given that [it] will acquire control of MCI.” The company made headlines in July when it filed for permission with the SEC to buy at least 50% of MCI’s shares. Since then there hasn’t been much public action on either side regarding a potential deal. But last week it was revealed that MCI hired three investment bankers to help the carrier sort through potential offers.
Qwest last week said it has expanded its business VoIP service to 10 additional markets. Qwest’s OneFlex service is now available in Albuquerque, N.M.; Billings, Mont.; Bismarck, N.D.; Casper, Wyo.; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Neb.; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; Seattle; and Sioux Falls, S.D. The service began in June in Boise, Idaho; Denver; Minneapolis; and Phoenix. Qwest plans to add 12 additional markets by year-end.
According to Nucleus Research, fewer than 20% of large companies use instant messaging throughout their organizations. The study says that “negative publicity surrounding instant messaging” is one of the reasons it has not been more widely deployed. The study says that many still view IM as “a toy that takes time away from employees’ productive hours, instead of a tool that can help them communicate more efficiently.” Of the companies that have deployed IM, the average usage time was 15.3 minutes per day, per user, although Nucleus says that times varied widely among respondents. Although some said they used IM for non-work related communications, Nucleus says eight out of nine respondents said they only use it for business.
