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World Business Quick Take

■ TELECOMS
Willcom, CNCG to forge tie
Japanese mobile provider Willcom Inc will forge a tie-up with China Network Communications Group (CNCG) to expand its low-cost phone business in Asia, a report said yesterday. Willcom plans to provide know-how on so-called "packet communications," in which a firm determines users' fees based on the amount of data transmitted rather than a blanket charge, the Nikkei Shimbun daily said. In Japan, Willcom offers the personal handy system, a type of simple mobile telephone that costs less than more advanced technologies and is also popular in a number of other Asian nations.

■ AVIATION
AirAsia X to raise funds
Malaysia's long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X plans to raise 1 billion ringgit (US$294 million) on the local bourse to fund the purchase of new aircraft for European routes, a top official said. "The floating of the IPO we are looking at three years down the road," AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said. "We plan to raise at least 1 billion ringgit on the local bourse." AirAsia X has signed a contract confirming the purchase of 15 wide-body A330-300 airliners from Airbus, with an option to buy 10 more.

■ AVIATION
Dash 8 problems continue
A Bombardier Inc Dash 8 Q400 turboprop airplane with a faulty undercarriage made an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, the third incident in two weeks involving this type of aircraft in Europe. The aircraft bound for Florence returned to Munich on Saturday after the pilot discovered its forward landing gear wouldn't extend, Ausburg Airlines spokesman Nico Lange said on Saturday. The latest incident involved a spring that allows the door for the landing gear under the nose to open and close and isn't related to two landing-gear collapses on the same type of aircraft operated by SAS AB's Scandinavian Airlines, Bombardier spokesman Bert Cruickshank said.

■ RUSSIA
French lament difficulties
French businessmen complained on Saturday about the numerous legal and operational difficulties faced by foreign investors in Russia at an economic forum in the southern resort of Sochi. Investors said they had confidence in the country's economic potential but pointed to problems including a weak legal framework, bureaucratic delays and ageing infrastructure. "Our Russia projects take 30 percent longer than in other parts of the world," said Joel Polo from the French chemicals group Rhodia, which has production in around 25 countries in the world. France ranked as the sixth-largest foreign direct investor in Russia last year, official statistics showed.

■ INTERNET
Wireless retest requested
Microsoft Corp and Royal Philips Electronics NV urged US regulators to retest portable wireless Internet devices they developed, saying the gadgets don't interfere with television signals. Microsoft asked for a new analysis on Friday in a letter to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The company said last month that its device wasn't working properly when the FCC found it may interfere with TV signals and wireless microphones. Microsoft and Philips are part of a group of companies that submitted devices that work with television airwaves known as white spaces.


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