CHINA
Uranium plant scrapped
China has abruptly canceled plans to build its largest uranium processing plant in a southern Chinese city, a day after hundreds of protesters took to the streets demanding the project be scrapped, a local government Web site said yesterday. The proposed 230 hectare complex in the heart of China’s Pearl River delta industrial heartland in Guangdong Province had also sparked unease in neighboring Hong Kong and Macau. Authorities in the gambling enclave had formally raised the issue with their Guangdong counterparts, the South China Morning Post reported. A one-line statement published on the Heshan city government’s Web site said that “to respect people’s desire, the Heshan government will not propose the CNNC project.” State-run China National Nuclear Corporation (中國核工企業集團) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC, 中國廣東核電集團) had planned to build the 37 billion yuan (US$6 billion) project.
TELECOMS
AT&T to acquire Leap
AT&T Inc said on Friday that it has agreed to acquire Leap Wireless International Inc, the pre-paid cellphone carrier that operates under the Cricket brand, for about US$1.19 billion in cash, or US$15 a share. The purchase gives the US’ No. 2 cellphone carrier a leg-up in serving customers who prefer not to have lengthy contracts. Leap’s Cricket service has 5 million subscribers who pay monthly without a contract. The deal also gives AT&T the right to use Leap’s unused airwaves — also known as spectrum — to expand its network. Spectrum is the lifeblood of the wireless industry and the fight to grab more of it has spurred a recent wave of consolidation. In April, No. 4 T-Mobile completed its acquisition of pre-paid carrier MetroPCS. The company plans to shut down the MetroPCS network in two years, so it can use the airwaves to improve coverage and data speeds.
COMMUNICATIONS
Firms stored data for FBI
PCCW Ltd (電訊盈科) and Telstra Corp, partners in an undersea cabling venture, stored phone and Internet data for the FBI and US Justice Department under terms of a 2001 agreement with the agencies, Telstra said. The pact, signed by Richard Li’s (李澤楷) PCCW after it formed its joint venture Reach with Telstra, requires the Australian company to store billing records for two years, according to a copy of the agreement posted online by news Web site Crikey, which first reported the deal yesterday. The venture also guaranteed it would be able to provide US authorities with copies of stored data, call logs, subscriber information, and billing data, according to the document.
ENTERTAINMENT
Hulu in talks to sell stake
Hulu LLC’s owners are in talks to sell a stake in the streaming service to Time Warner Cable Inc as they seek to create a stronger competitor to Netflix Inc, according to people with knowledge of the situation. An agreement, while not imminent, could be reached in as little as two weeks, said the people, who sought anonymity because the talks are private. Time Warner Cable had previously sought to acquire a 25 percent stake, they said. Owners Walt Disney Co. 21st Century Fox Inc and Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal on Friday called off plans to sell the service.
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
WAIT-AND-SEE: Last month’s consumer price index came in at 2.8%, which boosts expectations that the Fed would proceed cautiously to lower inflation sustainably The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week, treading carefully amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs. Since January, Trump has imposed levies on major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, and on steel and aluminum imports, roiling financial markets and fanning fears that his plans could tip the world’s biggest economy into a recession. The Trump administration has also embarked on unprecedented cost-cutting efforts that target staff and spending, while the US president has promised tax reductions and deregulation down the road. However,
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