TELECOMS
T-Mobile takeover blocked
Seven US states on Friday threw their support behind the Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to block AT&T’s US$39 billion takeover of T-Mobile. The department said the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington had joined the suit filed in a US district court in Washington last month. The move is another setback for AT&T as it seeks to salvage the proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA, the US unit of Deutsche Telekom. Separately, AT&T today will slip the switch on a high-speed “next-generation” network for smartphones and other wireless Internet gadgets in five cities. The long-term evolution (LTE) network will begin whizzing data to and from handheld devices for subscribers in Atlanta and Chicago, as well as the Texas cities of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, AT&T said.
INTERNET
Two Twitter directors quit
Two of Twitter’s earliest investors have left the company’s board of directors, the latest change to the fast-growing social media company’s leadership. Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures and Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital are no longer on Twitter’s board, the company said on Friday. It was not immediately clear what prompted the change. Twitter does not plan to appoint new directors to replace Wilson and Sabet, a source familiar with the matter said. The departures mark the latest change to Twitter. The company, which raised US$400 million in a new round of funding earlier this year, on Friday credited Wilson and Sabet with playing important roles in its success.
AUTOMOBILES
Brazil raises import taxes
Seeking to protect the local industry, the Brazilian government is sharply raising taxes on imported cars and trucks under a decree published on Friday in the country’s Federal Register. The measure, initially announced at a news conference on Thursday, increases the industrialized products tax by 30 percentage points on vehicles that fail to meet rules about local content. The new rates range from 37 percent to 55 percent, depending on a variety of factors such as vehicle and engine types. This is on top of import duties and other import costs. The decree has exemptions for companies that meet six of 11 new rules about local content. The rules include having at least 65 percent of their vehicles’ parts made in Mercosur countries, investing significantly in research or doing most of their assembly work in Brazil. The measure is meant to protect the domestic industry, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday.
AVIATION
Boeing delivery postponed
Boeing says the delivery of the first of its new 747-8 freighters is on hold because of issues with the plane’s first customer. Boeing was set to deliver the first of the revamped 747 freighters tomorrow to Cargolux, a cargo hauler based in Luxembourg, but Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said on Friday that the delivery would not push through tomorrow “due to unresolved issues” with Cargolux.” He said Boeing was continuing to work with Cargolux to determine a delivery date. Cargolux recently reshuffled its board after Qatar Airways took a 43 percent stake. On Friday it said the new board used its first meeting to review the firm’s financial and business situation, but it did not say anything about the 747. The latest delay comes as Boeing is also getting ready to deliver its new 787 to All Nippon Airways later this month.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
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