Lucent reaches pact with workers
Lucent Technologies has announced having reached a labour agreement with the two unions representing about 10 per cent of its work force, after month-long negotiations.

Under the agreement, members of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) will get a 16.3 per cent wage increase over the term of the contract, which expires May 12, 2012.

The agreement, which is subject to ratification by union members, would cover about 3,400 CWA members and about 300 IBEW members.

Lucent has 120,000 union-represented retirees and dependents, according to the CWA. The union represents about 3,400 active employees.

The prior contract took effect on March 1, 2003, which followed a five-year agreement.
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Oil prices fall to 7-week lows
Singapore: Oil prices fell to seven-week low to nearly $47 a barrel on Wednesday as traders braced for another increase in US oil and gas inventories.

US light crude at$47.25 a barrel declined 12 cents, after the nearly $2 slide on Tuesday - 15 per cent below its all-time high reached two weeks ago.

There are further signs of prices easing with the Gulf of Mexico production recovering from September's Hurricane Ivan and record high supplies of natural gas, an alternative to heating oil, also helping ease concerns.
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IBM plans Web-meeting service
New York: IBM is planning to offer web-conferencing as a hosted internet service, for which it sees a market among SMEs.

The web conferencing service requires users to register an account and have an internet connection, a browser and a phone. IBM manages the computer networks that host the conversations, enabling up to 100 participants to join in.
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Web conferencing services allow users to conduct meetings, share documents, presentations and software programs, over the Internet using a standard Web browser.

IBM already sells its Lotus instant messaging and web conferencing software as a packaged product.

Customers who sign up for an IBM-hosted web conference will receive an e-mail directing them to a specific web address. Once signed-on, users are asked to provide their phone numbers. The system then connects to the user to the Web conference through their phone lines.
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Microsoft's announces jumbo dividend
Microsoft shareholders will receive the largest corporate dividend ever next month - a $32 billion, special dividend or $3 per share.

The company's cash surplus of around $60 billion, led to investors demanding a return of funds to shareholders. Accordingly, Microsoft announced in July the one-time dividend, along with a doubling of its annual dividend and a four-year share buyback plan.

Shareholders approved changes to Microsoft's stock-based employee compensation plans that would maintain the value of stock options and awards.

The annual meeting coincided with the first-day sales of Microsoft's new video game, 'Halo 2,' for its Xbox video game machine reaching $100 million indicating the software giant's attempts to grow beyond its Windows and Office.

Microsoft now plans to beat Google in search services to double advertising revenue over the next five years from $360 million in fiscal 2004.
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Electrolux shuffles its top deck
Stockholm: Electrolux, the world's largest maker of household appliances, has reorganised top management positions in a bid to improve performance in a stiff competitive environment marked by rising raw material prices.

Electrolux has been closing plants in the US, France and Sweden and moving output to low-cost countries in eastern Europe and Asia to offset fierce price competition from rivals.

The company, has established a special white-goods leadership team under CEO Hans Straberg, while Wolfgang Konig, head of the consumer durables division in Europe, has left Electrolux.

His responsibilities have been taken over by Johan Bygge, who heads white goods in Asia, Africa and Oceania. Keith McLoughlin, the North America head will now be responsible for Latin America also, and the company's chief administrative officer Fredrik Rystedt has been appointed CFO.
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MSN to take on Google, Yahoo
Microsoft is set to unveil its internet search engine on Thursday, touching off a head-on battle with Google and Yahoo! for dominance in the fastest-growing area of online activity. Building the search engine has been one of the biggest new technology initiatives at Microsoft over the past year.

The launch of the Microsoft search engine could pose a major challenge to Google's remarkable growth and turn the global search engine business into an American dominance of the most significant area of online commerce. The early leaders from the US have had a big advantage over rivals overseas due to their large investments. The technology can be applied equally effectively to websites in any language.

Google has already stolen a march over Microsoft with a test version of its desktop search service, which can find information stored in different file types, including AOL instant messages and Microsoft's Word and Excel formats, while Microsoft is not yet ready with it.
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