Print

Mail

wiki links

World Business Quick Take

■ Telecoms
EU warns on market rules
The EU head office said on Wednesday it has charged nine European countries for failing to open up telecoms markets to competition. Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg and Poland received a first-round warning for not sending EU regulators their reviews of the market. The EU says this analysis is crucial to make sure the market is open to competition and regulations are able to cope with change. Governments have two months to respond. EU Information Society Commissioner Vivane Reding said EU rules had to be enforced to liberalize telecoms and create economic growth and jobs. The European Commission warned Cyprus and Slovenia for not guaranteeing the independence of the national regulator. It also told Estonia it wasn't sticking closely to EU legal rules. Malta received a second-round warning for not obeying an EU order to allow customers keep their phone number when they change operators.

■ Trade
Korean exchanges hit high
Trade volume between the divided Koreas is expected to reach a record US$1 billion this year, a South Korean official said yesterday. In the January-September period, trade between North and South Korea totaled US$789 million, up 60.1 percent from the same period last year, Vice Minister Rhee Bong-jo of the Unification Ministry said. That's already better than the current all-time high for annual trade of US$724 million set in 2003. The traded goods include clothing and agricultural and fisheries products. It also includes South Korean aid to North Korea such as rice and fertilizer. "If the current trend continues the figure will top US$1 billion this year for the first time in history," Rhee told reporters, without elaborating on reasons for the increase.

■ Aeronautics
A380 to fly to Singapore
The world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, will touch down at Singapore's Changi Airport next month on its maiden test flight out of Europe, a newspaper reported yesterday. Singapore has been picked as the first of three stops, which also include Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, sources told the Straits Times. Singapore Airlines (SIA) will be the first carrier to put the massive double-decker plane into operation. SIA has ordered 10 aircraft, with an option for another 15. The first few are due to arrive in November next year, eight months behind schedule, and will initially be put into service from London to Sydney. While the plane can carry up to 555 passengers, SIA will configure its A380s with 480 seats.

■ Piracy
BitTorrent user charged
A Hong Kong computer user is being prosecuted for piracy in what is believed to be the world's first case of its kind involving BitTorrent software, a news report said yesterday. Chan Nai-ming, 38, allegedly used the popular file-sharing technology to distribute three copyrighted films without the owners' licences, according to the South China Morning Post. Unemployed Chan allegedly used BitTorrent to upload Miss Congeniality, Daredevil and Red Planet onto the Internet but has pleaded not guilty to piracy. In the opening day of his trial, expected to last three days, Chan claimed on Wednesday he had been pressured into signing statements by customs officers who raided his house.

This story has been viewed 1531 times.