JP/14/biz

JP/14/biz

Unocal, Pelangi sign MoU on clean energy

JAKARTA: Unocal North Sumatra Geothermal Ltd agreed to let its
geothermal power plant, Sarulla, in North Sumatra become a pilot
project for generating electricity with low emissions in an
agreement with Pelangi, a non governmental organization.

Last week's Memorandum of Understanding would turn Sarulla
into a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, a statement by
Pelangi said on Tuesday.

As part of the Kyoto Protocol -- a convention to reduce
emissions worldwide -- the CDM project tracks the amount of
pollutants reduced compared to, if Sarulla had used coal instead
of geothermal to generate electricity, said Olivia a spokesperson
at Pelangi.

Sarulla's owners could convert the amount of reduced emission
into credit points to sell them.

Buyers, Olivia said, would be developed countries under the
Kyoto Protocol that could use the credit points to meet their
emission reduction targets. --JP

WorldCom's Yates admits guilt in fraud case

NEW YORK: WorldCom Inc.'s former director of general
accounting pleaded guilty on Monday to two felony charges
connected with the accounting fraud that led to the telephone
company's collapse.

Buford Yates entered guilty pleas to one charge of conspiracy
to commit securities fraud and one charge of securities fraud.
Yates made the pleas in an appearance before U.S. Magistrate
Judge Andrew Peck in Manhattan.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years
in prison and a US$250,000 fine, while the fraud charge carries a
maximum of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

In August, a grand jury indicted Yates and WorldCom's former
chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, on fraud and conspiracy
charges. The men were charged with scheming to hide billions of
dollars in expenses, inflating the earnings of the No. 2 U.S.
long-distance phone company and helping to precipitate its
collapse this summer into the world's largest bankruptcy filing.

Yates initially had pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Sullivan also has pleaded not guilty. -- Reuters

Deutsche Telekom keep 3 bidders for cable TV sale

BONN: The German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom
said Monday it had decided to retain three bidders for the final
negotiations over the sale of its television cable networks.

Deutsche Telekom, which hopes to use the proceeds from the
sale to reduce its debt burden, did not reveal the names of the
potential buyers, but said in a statement it had chosen the three
most attractive bids.

According to recent German press reports, the three bidding
consortia are: Goldman Sachs in conjunction with Apax Partners;
U.S. cable operator Liberty Media in conjunction with private
equity firms Apollo and Blackstone; and BC Partners and GMT.

The German giant did not say when it expected to finalize the
sale, but industry analysts are counting on a deal by the end of
the year.

At the end of August, Deutsche Telekom said it hoped to raise
2.5-3.5 billion euros (US$2.4-3.4 billion) from the sale, much
lower than its original asking price of 5.5 billion euros.

However, Deutsche Telekom remained upbeat in the statement,
insisting that "the bids show that the cable TV business is still
of great interest for investors, despite the difficult economic
situation."

Deutsche Telekom's net debt currently stands at around 64
billion euros. --AFP

Singapore telecom firm wants 3G rollout deadline dropped

SINGAPORE: Singapore's StarHub said Tuesday the rollout
deadline for third generation (3G) mobile networks should be
removed to give telecoms providers more flexibility.

"Frankly, consumers do not care what we use for our
infrastructure technology," StarHub's president and chief
executive Terry Clontz said.

"It is the availability and price of data enabled handsets,
useful applications, and premium content that will drive consumer
demand, whatever underlying technology is used to provide it," he
said in a statement.

One of three mobile service operators in the city-state,
StarHub has written to the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA)
-- industry watchdog -- to "formally request" the December 31,
2004 deadline be abolished, the statement said.

In separate submissions to the IDA this year, StarHub and
rival Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) said 3G rollout
schedules should be commercial decisions for individual companies
but their arguments were rejected by the IDA.

SingTel, StarHub and MobileOne Asia each paid S$100 million
(US$56 million) a year ago for a 3G license, with a fourth
license on offer failing to attract solid interest.--AFP

Boeing to tap into Asia

KUALA LUMPUR: United States airplane-maker Boeing hopes to
gain a strong foothold for future ventures in Southeast Asia with
the official launch of its regional headquarters in Kuala Lumpur
Tuesday.

The Malaysian office would be the base for its businesses in
the region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines,
Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Boeing Southeast Asia Vice President Paul Walters said that
the move to set up the office would provide the aerospace company
vast opportunities to tap into the region.

"If Boeing wants to compete, it would have to relocate to an
efficient and cost-effective place. To us, Malaysia fits the
bill," Walters was quoted by the Star newspaper as saying on
Monday.--DPA

Tanker blast not due to sabotage:PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's state-owned oil company Petronas does
not suspect the explosion aboard a supertanker off Yemen was
caused by sabotage, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on
Tuesday.

The French-flagged supertanker Limburg, carrying 400,000
barrels of crude and chartered by Petronas Nasional Bhd, was
ablaze off the coast of Yemen after an explosion on Sunday, and
the ship's owners said they thought terrorists using a boat could
have been responsible.

"Petronas did not suspect any sabotage," Mahathir was quoted
by the official Bernama news agency as saying. Mahathir added
that the explosion could easily have been caused by a small fire
due to a short-circuit.

Petronas did not incur big losses from the fire as the cargo
had been insured, he said. --Reuters