Thursday, April 10, 2008
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FCC Clears Text-Alert System
The Federal Communications Commission approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency-alert system using text messages delivered to cellphones. The plan stems from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2006 law that requires upgrades to the nation's emergency alert system.
Participation in the alert system by carriers will be voluntary, but the program has received solid support from the wireless industry. The service could be in place by 2010. Alerts will be delivered with a unique audio signature or "vibration cadence."
Cellphone subscribers will be able to opt out and may not be charged for receiving alerts.
ECONOMYRoss Takes Aim at Banks
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross Jr., left, said he wants to acquire stakes in banks, which he predicted are the next type of financial company to fail as the credit crunch intensifies.
Ross, speaking in Manhattan, warned that a U.S. recession, which he said has begun, will be "of some duration and consequence." Ross, 70, who made his fortune turning around distressed steel and textile companies, said he plans to buy stakes in mortgage industry companies, with a focus on depositary institutions.
INTERNETSearch Engine for Blacks
IAC/InterActiveCorp is starting a new search engine for black consumers that will serve as a test for the company as it develops other demographic-based sites.
RushmoreDrive.com is designed to attract black Web surfers by tailoring search results to their interests, said Johnny Taylor Jr., president of Black Web Enterprises for IAC, based in New York. The search engine aims to draw 1 million users within a year, he said.
The site uses technology from IAC's Ask.com, basing results on preferences of users in cities with large black populations, or moving them higher in the list of search results.
EXECUTIVES
Motorola Names New Chairman
Former AT&T chief executive David Dorman will become Motorola's chairman next month as the struggling cellphone maker tries to fix its slumping fortunes and split itself into two companies. Dorman, 54, will assume the non-executive position on May 5, after chairman and former chief executive Ed Zander retires at the company's annual meeting.
The announcement comes two days after Motorola ended a proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn, agreeing to seat two of his nominees on its board of directors.
JetBlue Founder to Leave CarrierJetBlue Airways said its founder and chairman David Neeleman will leave the New York-based discount carrier's board after its May 15 annual meeting.
Neeleman is stepping down to focus on a new airline he is creating in Brazil, JetBlue said. That airline, modeled after JetBlue, is expected to begin operations next year.
AUTOMOTIVEChrysler-UAW Deal Backed
U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland gave preliminary approval to a deal that would require Chrysler's hourly retirees to pay more for health care and would shift the automaker's retiree health-care obligations to a union-administered trust. The judge said he found the pact fair and reasonable. He set a June 30 public hearing on the agreement.
Chrysler and the UAW agreed to the trust as part of contract negotiations in October, but they need court approval for it to take effect. The pact covers 125,000 Chrysler retirees, spouses and dependents.
Investor Still Interested in DelphiThe lead equity investor in a plan to bring auto parts maker Delphi out of bankruptcy protection said he's still interested in working out a deal, even though his private-equity fund pulled out earlier this month.
David Tepper, president and founder of Appaloosa Management, is well known for investing in distressed companies. He declined to comment on his reasons for ending a deal last Friday to inject $2.55 billion into Delphi, the former parts arm of General Motors.
EARNINGSProgressive, the nation's third-largest auto insurer, said first-quarter profit fell 34 percent from the corresponding period a year earlier, to $239.4 million, on declining premium revenue and increased claims costs. Revenue fell 3 percent, to $3.59 billion, its fifth consecutive quarterly decline, because of rate reductions last year.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
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