False Gibtelecom emails, source being sought

GIBRALTAR (GibChronicle) Spam alert as Gibtelecom customers receive emails, seemingly originating from Gibtelecom, asking for usernames/passwords in order to restore their webmail accounts. “If you do receive any of these emails please disregard them and remove them immediately,” said a Gibtelecom spokesperson. “These are scam emails which have not been sent out by Gibtelecom and we would never ask for your access credentials via any means,” they add. The company have also said they are currently investigating the source of the email with a view to ascertain its origins. Customers are asked to call +350 20052200 should they have questions regarding the validity of any email seemingly originating from Gibtelecom.

Internet down for three hours - and more?

GIBRALTAR The report in The Gibraltar Chronicle reads as follows: "Many businesses and homes were without internet access for over three hours, due to a fault with Gibtelecom’s internet network, yesterday afternoon. The main areas of Gibraltar that were affected were town area and north district. Internet connection was lost at 2pm and not restored till 5.30pm, leaving many businesses unable to operate for the whole afternoon. Adrian Moreno, Gibtelecom’s Operations Director said, “Our engineers were working to restore the ADSL service since the onset of the fault which was caused by a software bug in the operating system of an ADSL aggregator.” That does not mean that the systems have been hacked and bugs implanted. Gibtelecom explained that internet equipment has an operating system and the software that this system uses got the bug and that their systems are still secure. They also said that this was a one off. A statement issued by Gibtelecom said, “The Company apologises for any inconvenience caused to customers.”" From outside the Rock, however, we were unable to look at both the Chronicle Online, or the Panorama site, for more than a day. Service from our point of view was restored some time this afternoon.

Caruana and Araujo are 'in harmony'

(Photo: Gibraltar Chronicle)

GIBRALTAR / LA LÍNEA Chief Minister Peter Caruana and Mayor Gemma Araujo of La Línea,  who have been described as being 'in harmony' by the local press, met with the media after their own get-together -the first such, officially- to make several statements of a more or less practical nature. For his part, Caruana declared that Gibraltar and La Línea "share a common socio-economic future", while Araujo (PSOE) made a point of saying how much relations between the two had improved since her predecessor, Alejandro Sánchez (PP), had been ousted at the elections in May, emphasized that this meeting was “an important gesture of a mutual desire to improve cross-border relations both at an institutional level and to bring our communities closer together.” The Chief Minister added that he had always made an effort with all previous mayors and had only abandoned this commitment when it had “become impossible to maintain the relationship” with Sánchez.>>>

Caruana says that self-determination is key to solution for Gibraltar

GIBRALTAR (Agencies) Chief Minister Peter Caruana said in an interview recently that the solution to the Gibraltar question is the people's right to self-determination and rejected the possibility that any advance on the matter could come about through bilateral discussions or negotiations between Britain and Spain, to the exclusion of Gibraltarians. The comments on TV3 came after the Prince of Asturias, Don Felipe, suggested that both governments should advance in discussions, at a dinner for the Prince of Wales on the latter's recent official visit to Spain. "Bilateralism, as though we were mere observers and not an integral part of the future, is simply not viable," said Caruana, who suggested Don Felipe should make clear what kind of advances he was encouraging.>

Tobacconists: 30% downturn in sales - Guardia Civil: sharp increase in tobacco smuggling from Gibraltar

LA LÍNEA/GIBRALTAR/CÁDIZ (Agencies) Two not entirely unconnected items: on the one hand, the federation of tobacconists in the province of Cádiz report a drop in sales of 30%, which, says its president, Aureliano Felipe Martínez, is a great deal higher in the Campo de Gibraltar. He says it has to do with cigarrette smuggling from Gibraltar. The Guardia Civil, on the other hand, reports that it has confiscated 280.000 packets so far this year in operations throughout the Campo but mainly in La Línea and the border. This is against the 240.000 for the whole of 2009. The GC also reports a sharp increase in matuteo, smuggling of cigarrettes by individuals (photo: EuropaSur), a practice that had seen a significant downturn over the last 10 to 15 years but has had a resurgence thanks to the crisis. The image shows a man putting single packs into his socks, where he hopes they will not be found. Meanwhile, the Spanish workers in Gibraltar organization, ASCTEG, complains of increased searches at the bordeer, saying that the solution to smuggling "does not reside in stopping workers at the border."

Gibtelecom changes its directory enquiry numbers

(Press release) Gibtelecom is reminding customers that, as of 1 October 2010, they will need to dial the new directory enquiry numbers - 11811 for local directory enquiries and 11888 for international directory enquiries. The old 195 and 196 numbers are being withdrawn the day before (30 September 2010) to coincide with the issue of the new 2010-11 Gibtelecom Gibraltar Telephone Directory.>