Lynnwood became the first community in the state Monday to approve a franchise for Verizon Corp. and its fiber optic FiOS television service. The company hopes to offer the service later this summer. David Valdez, senior vice president for Verizon’s Pacific Northwest Region, said the service will offer users a technical advantage. It will have some 400 digital channels grouped in topics such as sports, news and shopping, a wide array of high-definition channels, more than 10,000 video on demand titles each month, an interactive media guide, local weather and traffic and programming from a variety of groups. Everett will consider offering the service.
Asian airlines order new jets
Asian airlines joined their counterparts in the Middle East and plane leasing companies in a buying spree at the Farnborough International Airshow on Wednesday, as cash-strapped carriers from Europe and the U.S. continued to keep their hands in their pockets. Firm plane orders at the show, the biggest on the aviation calendar, reached $55.2 billion on the third day of the event, with European manufacturer Airbus ahead its U.S. rival the Boeing Co. with orders for 241 planes worth $36.95 billion at list prices. Chicago-based Boeing used a previously registered, but unidentified, order from Malaysia Airlines for 35 737-800s to boost its show tally to 152 orders worth some $16.79 billion at catalog prices.
Losses may prompt rise in airfares
The red ink is mounting for airlines amid soaring fuel costs, leaving them little choice but to further hike ticket prices. As Delta Air Lines and American Airlines reported big second-quarter losses Wednesday, they signaled customers should expect more hits to their checkbooks. There are signs overall demand for flying within the U.S. is softening, but industry observers insisted that will not stop the trend of rising fares, more fees and fewer flights.
EBay profits rise 22 percent
EBay Inc. says its second-quarter profit jumped 22 percent. The company enjoyed strong growth in its e-commerce sites and its PayPal payments service. The San Jose-based online auction company earned $460 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with $376 million, or 27 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding certain items, eBay earned 43 cents per share. That beat Wall Street’s forecast for 41 cents per share. EBay’s revenue rose 20 percent to $2.20 billion. Analysts were looking for $2.17 billion in revenue.
Fed may hike interest rates
Worried about rising inflation, Federal Reserve officials at their meeting in June thought the Fed’s next move on interest rates was likely to be up. Documents released Wednesday provided insights into the Fed’s thinking at the previous session, when they ended a nearly yearlong string of rate reductions, aimed at bolstering a teetering economy. At that time, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues were increasingly concerned that galloping energy prices could spread inflation, so they left the Fed’s key rate at 2 percent.
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