The chief executives of AT&T and T-Mobile USA appeared before a Senate antitrust subcommittee this week to defend their proposed $39 billion merger.

AT&T (the second largest wireless provider in the United States) announced in March its intention to acquire T-Mobile USA (the fourth largest) from Deutsche Telekom to overtake the current market leader Verizon Wireless.

British Airways and the Unite union have finally reached an agreement that will see an end to their long-running dispute.

The dispute, which lasted almost two years and involved 22 days of strike action, originally began because of cabin crew job cuts and a pay freeze.

BA has now agreed to restore travel concessions to staff who went on strike and award a two-year pay deal for cabin crew, worth up to 7.5 per cent. The agreement will be put to a ballot of around 10,000 union members, with Unite strongly recommending them to accept.

Google announced at its Google I/O conference yesterday that its new computer, Chromebook, will go on sale in June in the United States and six European countries.

The first models will be made by manufacturers Samsung and Acer and will be available online from Amazon and Best Buy from June 15 in the US. Chromebooks will be available from leading retailers in the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain, with more countries to follow.

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has signed an agreement for 70 hectares of land at the Port of Sheerness in Kent, UK, on which it hopes to build a facility to manufacture its new purpose-built offshore wind turbine.

Vestas has secured exclusive rights to the land, with the option lasting for approximately one year with the possibility to extend for another 12 months.

For most large businesses, rolling out a major initiative company-wide is always high-cost. Many companies plough ahead based on gut feel or a degree of manual financial analysis. So much more, however, can be gained through the rigorous business testing which is now possible using advanced technology, as Phil Marsland, European head of Applied Predictive Technologies, explains.

Most business leaders would confess to comparing themselves with the competition; but taking this one step further and carrying out regular benchmarking activities can lead to a number of benefits and improvements to performance, as Ray Wilkinson, director of the Best Practice Club, explains.

Electricity supply is a crucial ingredient of any supply chain, but in South Africa, urgent action is required to restructure the electricity distribution industry (EDI), as Dr. Willie de Beer explains exclusively to Martin Ashcroft.

The Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka is a stone’s throw from the main east-west shipping route between Australia, the Far East, Europe and the Gulf oilfields—perfectly placed to catch the passing trade.

The Dubai skyline is set to be transformed by the Dubai Pearl development. Jayne Alverca takes a closer look at the planned complex which creates an impression of awe and wonder.

Britannia Industries started as a Calcutta biscuit manufacturer in 1892. Managing director Vinita Bali tells John O’Hanlon about the responsibilities of a food manufacturer in India today.