In short

Today's other stories in brief.

France plans price cap on text messages

France is poised to become the first European Union country to introduce price controls on text messages, in a move that could pave the way for other member-states to regulate the booming market.

Brussels yesterday backed a request by the French telecommunications watchdog to cap the wholesale fees operators Orange, SFR and Bouygues charge each other to send customers' SMS messages across their networks in France.

The action could put further pressure on the mobile phone industry a week after Brussels published planned laws that would force operators to slash the fees Europeans pay to make and receive calls while travelling in the EU. - (Financial Times service)

€10m awarded to TV, radio projects

More than €10 million in programme funding was awarded to television and radio projects by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) during the second round of "Sound & Vision", the BCI's funding scheme.

Thirty-nine TV projects received a total €9.6 million from the scheme, while 42 radio initiatives were allocated a combined €468,000, the BCI said. The commission received 237 applications for funding during the second round.

Fed expects wages to pick up

The Federal Reserve expects a pick-up in wage growth in the US and does not think that this, in itself, would require it to raise interest rates further, chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday.

In his second day of testimony to Congress, Mr Bernanke told members of the House of Representatives that "increases in real wages are entirely consistent with low inflation - there is no contradiction".

Mr Bernanke also said that the Fed could at some point "vary" its pattern of quarter-point rate increases at each policy meeting. - (Financial Times service)

Pfizer to put $17m into acquisitions

Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, yesterday detailed plans to spend $17 billion (€13.4 billion) in 30 months on acquisitions, using its financial muscle to buy products and companies to help boost growth. The group also aimed to reassure investors, saying its size and financial flexibility would help it overcome challenges.

Investors were relieved yesterday with Pfizer's second-quarter results, which were helped by an aggressive cost-cutting plan, and strong sales of critical drugs Lipitor, a cholesterol reducer, and painkiller Celebrex. - (Financial Times service)

Wyeth profits lifted by vaccine

Wyeth yesterday showed signs that renewed interest in vaccines was paying off for drugmakers, as booming sales of its Prevnar vaccine helped lift quarterly profits 18 per cent.

Prevnar's growth, the performance of other key products including antidepressant Effexor and cost control prompted Wyeth to raise its profit outlook for the year. The group expects earnings per share to be at least $3.07 (€2.43) this year.

Excluding extraordinary items in the second quarter, Wyeth's profits rose 18 per cent to $1 billion, while sales rose 9 per cent to $5.2 billion. - (Financial Times service)

Asian sales drive up Nokia profits

Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, yesterday said sales of cheaper handsets to large Asian emerging markets were behind a rise of 22 per cent in second-quarter group revenues.

Sales to China increased 58 per cent year-on-year to 11.7 million units while other Asia-Pacific sales rose 79 per cent to 18.8 million.

Group net profits jumped 43 per cent to €1.14 billion. - (Financial Times service)