SAN LEON ENERGY said yesterday it made a £13.6 million (€14.56 million) offer for Island Oil & Gas, to build a strong Irish-based oil and gas exploration and development business.

Irish oil and gas exploration company, San Leon Energy — which is listed on the AIM exchange in London and is headed by former Smart Telecom chief, Oisin Fanning — is to raise £6.3 million (€7m) through the placing of 41.97 million new shares.

HIGH Court proceedings over a repossession order on former Smart Telecom chief executive Oisín Fanning’s luxury home were adjourned indefinitely yesterday after a judge was told it should not trouble the court again.

FORMER Smart Telecom chief executive Oisin Fanning yesterday lost a bid to stop a bank taking possession of his luxury home because of an alleged failure to keep up payments on an €8 million loan.

FORMER Smart Telecom chief executive Oisin Fanning is opposing a bid by a bank to take possession of his home because of an alleged failure to keep up payments on an €8 million loan, the High Court heard yesterday.

A NUMBER of legal actions involving former Smart Telecom chief executive Oisín Fanning arising from the October 2006 buyout of Smart by Smart YuRoE Broadband — a company controlled by businessman Brendan Murtagh — have come before the Commercial Court.

OIL firm San Leon Energy, which is chaired by businessman Oisin Fanning, is expected to commence trading of ordinary shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange today.

FORMER Smart Telecom boss Oisin Fanning is not a credible person to challenge the October 2006 buyout of the company by businessman Brendan Murtagh, the High Court was told yesterday, as Mr Fanning himself both voted for and benefited from the deal.

FORMER Smart Telecom chief executive Oisin Fanning has claimed at the High Court that businessman Brendan Murtagh threatened in October 2006 to put the company into liquidation unless all the directors not loyal to Mr Murtagh resigned and signed irrevocable proxies supporting his takeover of the company.

Smart Telecom is to boost its Irish sales team to win over new customers from rival telephone and internet firms.

FERMANAGH entrepreneur Sean Quinn yesterday jumped on Smart Telecom’s mobile bandwagon as he joined forces with Kingspan director Brendan Murtagh to provide €56 million to fund the company’s plans for a new 3G network.

EIRCOM suffered a double dose of bad news yesterday as it lost out in the race for the country’s final third generation (3G) mobile phone licence and potential buyer Swisscom fuelled doubts over its proposed takeover.

SMART TELECOM has raised €55.2 million in new funding.

Smart Telecom is set to roll out wireless internet access to more areas in Cork following the success of its network in the city centre.

Smart Telecom has awarded a €2.5m co-location contract to IT and telecommunications solutions provider Data Electronics to host the majority of Smart's national voice and data infrastructure.

EIRCOM’S new broadband package aimed at light users came under fire yesterday, as critics attacked it for being too restrictive.

BROADBAND provider Smart Telecom has selected Eutelsat, one of the world’s leading satellite operators, to fulfil the satellite requirements of the €6 million contract it was recently awarded to provide high-speed internet access to schools throughout Ireland.

EIRCOM has launched a new package to curb the growing trend of residential customers shunning fixed-line phones in favour of their mobiles.

SMART Telecom said yesterday that Eircom was engaged in "completely unacceptable" tactics to prevent customers switching over to Smart's broadband internet service.

MORE than 20,000 customers have signed up for Smart Telecom’s broadband high-speed internet package in the eight weeks since it was launched, the company said yesterday.

Business and residential telecom company Smart Telecom has welcomed the decision by the telecoms regulator to reduce the cost of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) charges by 50%. The price for each connection will fall from €121 to €58 and eventually to €49.

Telecom service provider Smart Telecom is to create 60 jobs in a new call centre in Dublin’s Baggot Street.

SMART TELECOM has acquired the T50 broadband network around Dublin in a deal that could be worth €11.5 million.

SHARES in Smart Telecom fell 3% yesterday after it said pre-tax losses for the first half of the year had doubled to €4.4 million.

SMART TELECOM has upped the stakes in the domestic fixed-line phone market by bringing in free calls for its customers.

SHARES in Smart Telecom, the country’s third largest phone company, got off to a good start on their first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Smart Telecom has called on the communications regulator to explain why it is yet to reprimand Eircom for making improper marketing contact with Smart customers.

BUSINESSES in Cork will soon be able to save up to 50% on communications costs, following the completion of a fibre-optic cable network and the entry of a new service provider to the market.