■ Telecoms
Telecom Italia ups stake
Telecom Italia on Sunday was to proceed with its planned 21 billion euro (US$27.3 billion) takeover of Telecom Italia Mobile. With the shares acquired in the takeover, Telecom Italia, Italy's former phone monopoly, will increase its stake in Telecom Italia Mobile to 85 percent, from 56 percent. The 15 percent of Telecom Italia Mobile shares still publicly traded will be exchanged for newly created Telecom Italia shares as part of the merger. Telecom Italia is increasing its debt by almost 50 percent, to about 44 billion euros, to finance the deal so that it will control Telecom Italia Mobile's cash flow, which was 3.7 billion euros in 2003. Telecom Italia Mobile is one of Europe's most profitable cellphone operators and already accounts for 41 percent of Telecom Italia's sales and 55 percent of its operating profit.
■ Telecoms
Nokia to use single TI chip
Nokia Oyj, the world's largest mobile-phone maker, will start making handsets that are run by a single chip made by Texas Instruments Inc to reduce costs. Nokia plans to initially start selling the phones based on the single chip in "entry-level" mobile phone markets such as India and China, the companies said in a joint e-mailed release. Finland-based Nokia, whose sales are sputtering as phone prices drop, is aiming to cut costs to boost profitability. "The cooperation will allow Nokia to offer more cost-effective advanced handsets," the firms said in the release. "Cost, size, power and performance optimizations are crucial, especially for high-volume entry-level mobile phones." The handsets will be "voice-centric," which means that they will be mostly used for talking.
■ Telecoms
Nortel in joint venture
Canada's Nortel Networks Corp signed an agreement yesterday with South Korea's LG Electronics Inc to set up a joint venture to make and market high quality telecommunications equipment. The preliminary agreement was announced in Seoul, and the two companies were expected to finalize the deal for the 50-50 joint venture in the second quarter of this year. Financial details of the deal were not immediately available. The companies said in a statement the joint venture, which will be based in South Korea, will produce high-end telecommunications equipment and networking solutions to South Korea and other markets. LG Electronics is South Korea's biggest maker of home appliances, and Nortel is a major supplier of 3G networks.
■ Automobiles
Fiat in no hurry to sell to GM
Italian industrial group Fiat said yesterday that it would wait until at least Feb. 2 to exercise its right to sell the troubled Fiat Auto division to US giant General Motors. Fiat said mediation talks with GM that began on Dec. 16 regarding their industrial partnership will end on Feb. 1. Consequently, Fiat said it postponed the right to exercise its put option -- which gives it the right to sell its 90 percent stake in the loss-making car business Fiat Auto to GM -- to Feb. 2. Fiat reiterated that the put option remains "valid and enforceable" despite GM's claims to the contrary after Fiat sold some assets and recapitalized Fiat Auto. Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne added that the evolution of the relationship with GM "will not negatively impact the group's ability to reach its financial targets for 2005, 2006 and 2007."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)