■ TelecomsSprint, AT&T to pay penalties
Sprint Corp and AT&T Corp will pay nearly US$1.5 million in civil penalties to settle government claims that the companies violated federal credit laws for customers seeking telephone service, the Federal Trade Commission announced Friday. Under the agreement, Sprint will pay US$1.1 million and AT&T will pay US$365,000. The commission said the two companies either denied service to prospective customers or placed conditions on their service because of their credit reports. In many cases, the companies were then required to notify the consumers of their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to obtain a free copy of their credit report or of their right to dispute with the credit bureau information in their reports. The FTC says those notifications either were not sent to consumers or were sent but were incomplete. In the case of Sprint, about 550,000 consumers were affected.
■ Telecoms
Nortel hires help
Canadian telecommuni-cations company Nortel Networks said Friday it has hired giant consulting firm Accenture to help fix its troubled financial operation. Accenture, a global firm that operates in 48 countries including Canada, will review elements of Nortel's worldwide finance organization and will help identify improvements to business processes and systems. Nortel has already fired former chief executive Frank Dunn and several senior executives within the finance hierarchy after problems were uncovered with financial statements spanning several years. In addition to an internal review being conducted by Nortel's board, the company is also the subject of investigations by the RCMP, the US Attorney's office in Dallas and stock market regulators in Canada and the US.
■ Airlines
UAE to order Boeings
Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates said Friday it would order five Boeing Co 777-300ERs, marking the first time the airline has bought Boeing planes. The deal for five of Chicago-based Boeing's long-haul, widebody jets could be worth as much as US$1.2 billion at list prices, although airlines usually negotiate steep discounts. Etihad began operations in November last year and has said that it hopes to expand rapidly with routes throughout the world. Earlier this year, the airline placed an order worth more than US$7 billion with Boeing's European rival, Airbus. Ahmed bin Saif al-Nehyan said Etihad had thought about buying Boeing's new mid-sized 7E7 jet, but didn't want to wait until 2008, when the airplane is scheduled to go into service.
■ Automakers
Goodyear to slash jobs
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co said on Friday it will eliminate 340 jobs in its engineered products and chemical businesses to reduce costs. The largest US tiremaker will cut 240 jobs in engineered products by the end of the third quarter next year and 100 in its chemical business by the end of this year. The jobs will be eliminated at several unnamed facilities in North America and Europe. The Akron-based company will record a charge of between US$23.5 million and US$27.5 million in engineered products and a charge of between US$5.5 million and US$6 million in its chemical business. Goodyear reported its first quarterly profit last month since the third quarter of 2002, propelled by strong sales of its new, all-weather Assurance tire.
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