Weekly News (17th – 23rd oct)

.

Australia approves $30 bn coal gas

projects

Australia on Friday

approved two multi-

billion dollar coal gas

projects with strict

environmental conditions,

clearing the way for

exports of millions of

tonnes of clean-burning

energy to Asian countries

Environment Minister

Tony Burke imposed

more than 300

conditions to protect

ecological treasures

such as the Great

Barrier Reef as he

gave the go-ahead to

BG Group and the

Gladstone Liquefied

Natural Gas (GLNG)

joint venture

.

BG is developing Curtis

LNG and GLNG is a

joint venture between

Australia's Santos,

Malaysia's Petronas and

France's Total, in

projects worth about 30

billion dollars (about 29

billion US)

Top mobile firms to see profits drop, focus on 3G

Top mobile operators in India are expected to post big drops in September quarter profits after being squeezed by a price war, but the outlook has improved as prices stabilise and carriers gear up to launch

higher-margin advanced services.

After spending a combined $24 billion this year to grab licences in auctions of 3G and wireless broadband radio airwaves, telecoms firms are gearing up for the commercial rollout of 3G that would facilitate faster Internet browsing and premium services such as video calling.

India is the world's fastest-growing market by wireless user additions, with monthly sign-ups averaging about 18 million. However, nearly 90 per cent of the carriers' revenue is from voice services, which offer lower margins than data services.

Nissan starts production of zero-emission Leaf

electric car

Nissan said Friday it had started producing its Leaf electric car in Japan as

it prepares to put it on sale at home and in the United States in December.

Nissan, which is part-owned by Renault of France, has billed the Leaf --

short for Leading Environmentally-friendly Affordable Family car -- as the

world's first mass-produced electric vehicle (EV).

Nissan has gambled that its EVs will take off globally and overcome

consumer concerns such as "range-anxiety", or the fear that their cars will

run out of juice between electric charging points.

To promote its EVs and set up charging stations, Nissan says it has signed

80 partnerships worldwide with governments, municipalities and

companies.

Ericsson Q3 profit strong, part shortages hit

sales

Ericsson, the world's biggest mobile network gear maker, posted higher-

than-expected third-quarter core profit on Friday, boosted by higher

margins even though sales were hit by parts shortages.

The telecoms equipment market has remained sluggish after the global

downturn as operators focus on keeping down costs.

A surge in data traffic due to smartphones like Apple's iPhone has yet to

clog up networks and spark demand for more capacity. Additional problems

for Ericsson are a strengthening crown and a shortage of components,

which sliced 2-3 billion crowns off sales in the third quarter.