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The country spent 31 per cent higher amount to $1.84 billion in importing food items in the previous fiscal year due to price hike in the global market, according to a Bangladesh Bank report.
   Businessmen and economists said the international price rise pushed the Bangladesh’s import bills to further high despite decline in volume of imports, leaving a strong message for the government to take urgent measures to increase domestic production of food items.
   Some importers also mentioned that the uptrend in the international market ‘forced’ them to procure lesser quantity of food items, especially wheat, edible oils and pulses, resulting in further price-hike of essentials at home.
   In the just-concluded 2006-2007 fiscal year, food imports bills were more $435 million higher than the 2005-06 fiscal’s food import bills worth about $1407 million, according to the Bangladesh data.
   ‘The world’s commodity market experienced a huge upsurge in the year past and it was unusual in recent years,’ said Abul Bashar Chowdhury, a leading importer of food items based in Khatunganj, the commodity hub in the port city of Chittagong.
   Production of food grains fell in Australia and Canada whereas consumption increased in populous China and India — a situation that contributed to the global market volatility, Chowdhury observed.
   ‘An abnormal rise in commodity prices in international market has mainly inflated Bangladesh’s import bills,’ economist Abul Barakat said referring to the rising inflation trend of the national economy.
   ‘Increased agricultural production and productivity are the only way out for us to face the crisis,’ he pointed out and suggested that the government should distribute millions of acres of khas land among the landless farmers and provide micro-credit to boost farm output.
   Mir Nasir Hossain, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, explained that Bangladesh had to bear the brunt of ‘global crazy commodity market’ because of her dependency on imports of major food items.
   Justifying the behaviour of the importers in time of market fluctuation, he cautioned that the situation might deteriorate in the coming years, should the World Trade Organisation compel the countries to reduce or withdraw farm subsidy. ‘We should revise our food security,’ he said.
   Bangladesh spent $170 million on import of rice in the last fiscal year as against $117 million in the previous fiscal year, shows the central bank data. An amount of $403 million was spent on import of wheat in the fiscal to $310 million the year before.
   The country’s spending stood at $274 on sugar import in 2006-07 against $124 million in the previous year and $573 million on edible oils against $463 million. The country spent $191 million for importing pulses in the 2006-2007 fiscal, compared to $164 million spending in the previous fiscal year.
   Bangladesh imported milk worth $97 million in 2006-07 against $73 million in 2005-06 and fruits valued $52 million as against $50 million in the previous fiscal year. Bills for importing onion amounted to $61 million in 2006-07 against $67 million in 2005-06 fiscal year and for spices $32 million in 2006-07 against $29 million in the previous year.

The daily average turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange surged at Tk 213.77 crore in the last week from the previous week’s average of Tk 167.02 crore.
   For the first time in the history of country’s prime bourse that saw its daily average turnover passed Tk 200 crore marks in the last week, DSE sources said.
   The DSE turnover in the last week totalled Tk 1,068.87 crore which was 27.99 per cent higher than that of the previous week’s total of Tk 835.10 crore.
   Analysts and market players attributed the surge in the DSE’s turnover to strong participation of the institutional and foreign portfolio investors at the market.
   Financial institutions which were sitting with huge surplus liquidity in recent times remained highly active in the stock market, they pointed out.
   On last Tuesday, the turnover at the prime bourse hit its all-time high of Tk 239.54 crore.
   Analysts said the market also witnessed crazy rush from the retail investors that prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission, the stock market watchdog, on last Monday to make the small investors alert advising them to be cautious in investing on stocks.
   Some shares have become overpriced due to huge demand in the market that has limited supply of securities, they mentioned.
   The DSE general index gained 135.24 points or 6.14 per cent in the last week to close at 2339.37 on Thursday, while its blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 209.03 points or 11.12 per cent to finish at 2088.60. On last Wednesday, the general index crossed 2300 points for the first time.
   With the rise of prices, DSE market capitalisation increased by Tk 2,633 crore in the last week to stand at Tk 52,025 crore on Thursday from its previous week’s closing of Tk 49,392 crore. On last Monday, the DSE market capitalisation crossed Tk 50,000 crore mark for the first time.
   On May 3, DSE market capitalisation crossed Tk 40,000 crore mark for the first time in the history of the country’s capital market.
   Of the total 238 issues traded on the DSE floor in the last week, 134 advanced, 87 declined and 17 remained unchanged. Thirty-five issues recorded no transaction during the period.
   Sandhani Life Insurance topped the gainers’ list with 35.79 per cent rise in its share price in the week while Kohinoor Chemicals was the worst loser with 35.58 per cent fall.
   BRAC Bank topped the turnover leaders with total transaction of Tk 82.75 crore in the last week.
   Other turnover leaders of the week were Square Pharmaceuticals, Southeast Bank, Power Grid Company Bangladesh, Summit Power, Shahjalal Islami Bank,
   Pubali Bank, United Commercial Bank, Dhaka Bank and Prime Bank.

Bangladesh Krishi Bank will disburse Tk. 273 core agricultural loans in six districts of Barisal division during the current fiscal year.
   In the last fiscal year, the bank disbursed Tk. 197 cores against the target of Tk 258 core in six districts of Barisal division. The rate of loan recovery was about 100 per cent.
   Barisal divisional office of Krishi Bank sources said of the targeted loan amount of Tk 273 core, Tk 51.5 core would be disbursed in Barisal, Tk.41.8 core in Pirojpur, Tk. 56.6 core in Bhola, Tk. 44 core in Barguna, Tk. 50.6 core in Patuakhali and Tk.28.5 core in Jhalakati districts.
   Of the loan amount of Tk 273 core, Tk.137 crore would be given for food cultivation, Tk. 40 for fisheries, Tk.30 for livestock, Tk.18 core for firming, machinery and current sectors, Tk. 20 core for service and maintenance, Tk. 13 core for micro-credit and Tk.15 core for others sectors.
   The bank recovered Tk. 156 core against the target of recovery of Tk 163.32 cores of the disbursed amount of Tk.197 core loans in last fiscal year.

Business leaders Saturday asked the government to extend the deadline to set up effluent treatment plants, which they said needed time.
   A meeting comprising business leaders of different sectors held at the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry appealed to the government for more time.
   The makeshift government had directed industries in March to set up the ETPs by October 31.
   The government instructions said the industries must establish the ETPs to effectively treat the effluents they produce.
   However, business leaders say that different industries require different types of ETP and accordingly they need more time to properly establish the plants.
   According to the Department of Environment, more than 1200 industries discharge about 35,000 cubic metres of waste that lead to serious environmental pollution and health hazards.
   Although Bangladesh has a low level of industrialisation, unplanned proliferation of industrial units and industrial waste flowing onto agricultural land are a cause for concern.
   FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain said the government should extend the time limit in consultation with the stakeholders considering the gravity of the matter.
   He appreciated the government initiative to deal effectively with industrial effluent.

Direct road link, border trade, repatriation of Rohingya refugees, maritime boundary, contract farming and easing of visa regime are likely to figure prominently during the consultations between Bangladesh and Myanmar in Dhaka on Monday-Tuesday.
   Myanmar deputy foreign minister U Kyaw Thu arrives in Dhaka Sunday to lead his country’s four-member delegation to the consultations. Officials in Dhaka consider the consultations significant to resolve various bilateral issues and advance the interests of Dhaka and Yangon.
   Particularly, it takes place after foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury’s official visit to Myanmar in last April when he had comprehensive talks on the issues with the Yangon leadership.
   During the foreign adviser’s last visit, a MoU was signed to connect Bangladesh and Myanmar through a ‘friendship bridge’. Bangladesh agreed to finance 23km road from Taungboro to Bawlibazar inside Myanmar and the remaining 120km from Bawlibazar to Kyautaw to be built by the Myanmar authorities.
   The upcoming consultations will focus on the construction of the proposed road link aimed at boosting trade and tourism.
   Besides, Dhaka is likely to emphasis repatriation of the remaining more than 21,000 Rohingya refugees to their homeland. The authorities in Myanmar already cleared around 8,000 refugees. On bilateral trade that is tilted towards Yangon, Bangladesh would like to see Myanmar import more products like pharmaceuticals to reduce the trade gap. In 2005-06, Bangladesh exports to Myanmar stood at US$ 5.19 million against its import bill of $29.53 million.
   Dhaka may also take up its proposal to lease Myanmar land for agriculture production to meet the growing demand in Bangladesh.

The finance adviser, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, Saturday asked the three nationalised commercial banks not to give in to political pressure once they were corporatised.
   He said past political governments with access to public money had made motivated decisions on the utilisation of money in the NCBs.
   ‘We have seen this happen in Bangladesh so many times since independence,’ said Azizul at a seminar entitled ‘Janata Bank: Changing Corporate Culture in Bangladesh’ at the Brac Inn Centre in the city. ‘Professional incompetence in these banks was aggravated by political interference in management and day-to-day tasks,’ he elaborated.
   The adviser said the makeshift government has decided to corporatise Sonali, Janata and Agrani banks so that their management boards can function independently and autonomously.
   After corporatisation these banks will be controlled by Bangladesh Bank instead of the finance ministry, separating the management of the banks from their owners.
   The banks have already been given licences to operate as public limited companies or corporate bodies. Corporatisation is a pre-requisite for the privatisation process, according to financial analysts. The government will continue to own total shares of the banks after their corporatisation, while a board of directors comprising 7 to 12 experienced members will be formed.
   However, the finance adviser told the seminar that the ownership issue requires further assessment.
   Referring to his experience as the chairman of Sonali Bank, the finance adviser said although these banks were run under the finance ministry, it he saw other ministries intervened more than the finance ministry did.
   ‘A section of politicians perceived these NCBs as sources of exploitation,’ he said.
   Azizul said concentrated and excessive borrowing from the NCBs has adversely affected the economy leading to vast amounts of bad debts, financial losses, trade unionism and inefficiency.
   He also criticised the NCBs for poor services and products to its clients.

Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed Saturday called upon the media to monitor micro-economic activities to help the government take corrective measures at the early stage of a programme.
   ‘We evaluate programmes, but it gets late in detecting the mistakes,’ he told a seminar at the Jatiya Press Club, saying that media reports on the field-level activities could help the government in plugging the loopholes.
   He said the micro-activities should be focused in the media as part of ‘social auditing’ alongside the macro-policies, which could ensure whether the micro-activities match with the macro-economic policies.
   South Asian Free Media Association organised the seminar titled ‘Poverty and Role of Bangladesh Media’, with SAFMA president Reazuddin Ahmed in the chair.
   Bangladesh Economic Association president Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed and FBCCI
   president Mir Nasir Hossain also took part in the discussion while SAFMA general secretary Zahiduzzaman Faruque gave the address of welcome.
   The organisers considered the seminar as part of a preparation of the South Asian regional conference on the same theme in Colombo on August 18-19. Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus will present the keynote speech at the conference.
   The Bangladesh Bank governor said the major portion of the country’s people live below the poverty level, not for lack of resources but for the lack of proper direction and of opportunity.
   ‘We’ve resources coming through different channels, but those are not reaching the poor. It deserves pro-poor policies to create employment and growth,’ he said.
   He said there are five major stakeholders — government, bureaucracy, judicial system, parliament and people — in a country while media works to link up the stakeholders.
   ‘So, media is very important. It should be very sensitive, responsible,’ he said, adding that the information they disseminate should be properly analytical. Besides, the media needs value judgement to provide both negative and positive aspects of information.
   ‘Time has come to sharpen the media, as the people are now much dependent on it,’ said the Bangladesh Bank governor, adding that the country is now at a critical juncture while many people are doubtful over the situation.
   BEA president Kholiquzzaman Ahmed quoted a line from Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who said a famine cannot take place if there is freedom of people and media in a country.
   He said social and political stability and economic growth is essential for poverty reduction. ‘Everybody, particularly those who are at the bottom, must be included in the growth process.’

A 50-member Chinese trade delegation will meet the Bangladeshi business entrepreneurs at the committee room-I of the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city on Sunday.
   Eleven Chinese importers and eleven Bangladeshi exporters will sign purchase agreement on boosting trade after the bi-lateral talks between Bangladesh and China that begins at 9:30am.
   Dhaka will export raw jute, leather, seafood, herbal and pharmaceuticals medicines, textile, readymade garment, chemical and other products to Beijing.
   Wang Chao, assistant minister, Ministry of Commerce of China, Zheng Qingdian, Chinese ambassador in Dhaka, Feroz Ahmed, secretary, Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh, and Hossain Khaled, president of Dhaka Chambers of Commerce and Industries, will remain present at the agreement signing ceremony, said a press release.
   The Chinese trade delegation will include leading businessmen of Sinochem Corp, Chinatex Group, China National Light Industrial Products Import and Export Corp, China Grains and Oils Group Corp, China Mecho Corp, China Textile Resources Corp, China National Native Produce and By-Product I/E Corp, COFCO Grains and oils Import and Export Co, China National Service Corp for Chinese Personnel Working Abroad, China National Complete Plant Import and Export Corp Ltd, China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corp with items interest like Jute, leather, Sea food, medicine (herbal and pharmaceuticals), textile, readymade garments, chemicals, fuel oil, and petroleum fertilizer, overseas oil and Gas corporation, hotel, real estate, rubber and others.

A change in currency policy will not by itself resolve the big trade imbalance between the United States and China, with further economic reforms needed, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.
   Bernanke, appearing before Congress for a second day for the central bank’s semiannual economic report, said China’s currency peg is only part of the problem that has led to a massive US trade deficit with Beijing.
   ‘The currency, while an important issue, is probably in itself not going to solve the trade imbalance problem,’ he told the Senate Banking Committee in response to a question.
   ‘There are fundamental saving investment imbalances, both in the United States and abroad, which need to be changed in order to make real progress on the trade balance.’
   Bernanke highlighted ‘the importance of structural changes in China’s economy such as increased safety net and improved financial systems that would increase the share of their output going to consumers and be consumed at home.’
   ‘And the combination of currency appreciation and this other set of measures is really what’s needed to begin to move in the right direction,’ he said.
   On Wednesday, Bernanke told the House of Representatives that China would help its own economy as well as global trade imbalances by allowing the yuan to float freely.
   Some lawmakers in Washington accuse Beijing of keeping its currency purposefully low to give its exporters an unfair advantage.
   China revalued the currency by 2.1 per cent from 8.28 yuan in July 2005 and has since then allowed the unit to rise about six per cent.
   In May, the daily trading band against the dollar was widened to 0.5 per cent from 0.3 per cent on either side of a central parity rate, in theory making it possible that the currency could appreciate more quickly.
   Senator Christopher Dodd asked Bernanke to clarify a December 2006 prepared speech in which Bernanke said China’s undervalued currency is an ‘effective subsidy.’
   Bernanke said the undervalued currency is ‘not a subsidy in the legal sense,’ and said legally a subsidy is a direct payment. ‘Nothing like that is going on,’ he said.

Google hit a bump in the road with its latest quarterly report that disappointed on the profit side, but analysts say the fast-growing Internet giant still holds a strong position against key rivals.
   The world’s most popular online search engine late Thursday reported a 28 per cent rise in second-quarter profit but the results fell far short of expectations on Wall Street where the firm’s stock price sank.
   Shares in Google slumped Friday more than five per cent to close at 520.12 dollars.
   Google said net profit increased to 925 million dollars, or 2.93 dollars per share, in the April-June period, compared with 721 million, or 2.33 dollars per share, in the same quarter last year.
   Analysts were surprised by the high costs of hiring and bonuses, which had not been previously disclosed.
   ‘They are apparently hiring virtually every PhD who comes out with a computer science or math degree,’ said John Wilson, analyst at Morgan Keegan.
   Google reported revenues of 3.87 billion dollars, an increase of 58 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2006 and six per cent higher than the first quarter of 2007.
   UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter said that despite some positive revenue figures ‘the big story, however, is margin deterioration in the quarter due to significant and across-the-board higher operating expenses.’
   Analysts pointed out that the below-consensus second-quarter earnings were due to higher spending on employees and the timing of certain bonuses.

Rwanda has become the first country to resort to a four-year old rule that allows governments to waive patent protection and import more affordable generic copies of medicines to deal with major diseases, the WTO said Friday.
   Rwanda informed the World Trade Organisation on July 17 that it intended to import 260,000 packs of Triavir, a treatment for HIV/AIDS made in Canada that combines three anti retroviral drugs, the WTO said in a statement.
   It is the first nation to fully implement an agreement adopted by the WTO’s members in August 2003, which was initially hotly contested by wealthy nations with major pharmaceutical industries.
   The agreement supplemented an earlier 2001 deal—which allowed individual patents to be suspended by poor countries facing health emergencies — by granting generic producer nations the right to sell copies of patented drugs to countries that are unable to produce them.
   The compulsory licensing rules were designed to help poor nations tackle diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and ‘other epidemics’.
   Thailand had invoked the 2001 rule last November to allow local production of anti-HIV/AIDS drugs, but the decision was challenged by the French and US pharmaceutical industries.
   The development charity Oxfam welcomed Rwanda’s decision, calling it ‘a bold move.’
   ‘Up till now, Oxfam and others have said this provision has been so bound by red-tape as to be unworkable,’ Oxfam’s chief fair trade campaigner Celine Charveriat said in a statement.
   ‘We hope that Rwanda’s action will lead to an increase in the number of poor people who can get anti-retrovirals,’ she added.
   Charveriat said the case would be ‘a litmus test’ to see whether the WTO rules can genuinely help poor nations obtain the otherwise unaffordable drugs they need.

World oil prices soared close to record heights this week, energised by concerns over tight global supplies and keen demand led by the United States and China.
   Base metals tin and lead hammered record high points, while gold struck a two-month peak.
   Many commodities won support from the falling US currency, which increases demand for dollar-denominated commodities because they become cheaper for buyers holding stronger-performing currencies.
   Prices were underscored by impressive economic growth data from China, which is one of the world’s biggest markets for raw materials.
   China said its economy expanded by a blistering 11.9 per cent in the second quarter and 11.5 per cent for the first six months of 2007. But that prompted China’s central bank to raise interest rates for the third time this year.
   Oil: The price of New York crude struck a fresh 11-month high point above 76 dollars a barrel, owing to tight US supplies, while London’s Brent oil traded close to its historic high.
   By Friday, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery gained to 77.63 dollars a barrel on Friday, compared with 77.57 dollars a barrel for the August contract a week earlier.
   New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, jumped to 75.79 dollars a barrel, from 73.93 dollars a barrel.
   Gold: and surging oil prices, analysts said.
   On Friday, gold prices rose to 683.90 dollars per ounce, which was the highest point for more than two months.
   Silver: On the London Bullion Market, silver increased to 13.29 dollars an ounce at Friday’s late fixing, from 13.13 dollars a week earlier.
   Palladium and platinum: On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum rose to 1,332 dollars an ounce at the late fixing Friday, from 1,313 dollars a week earlier.
   Palladium stood at 370.50 dollars an ounce, from 368 dollars.
   Base metals: Lead has hit a series of all-time highs this year, benefiting from supply shortages and soaring demand, particularly from powerhouse economy China.
   On Friday, the price of copper for delivery in three months increased to 8,065 dollars a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, from 7,780 dollars a week earlier.
   Three-month aluminium prices rose to 2,855 dollars per tonne, nickel prices gained to 34,487 dollars per tonne, lead prices rocketed to 3,440 dollars per tonne, zinc prices jumped to 3,651 dollars per tonne, tin prices leapt to 15,500 dollars per tonne.
   Cocoa: By Friday on the LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price of cocoa for September delivery firmed to 1,109 pounds a tonne, from 1,102 pounds a week earlier.
   Coffee: Coffee prices rebounded from losses the previous week. On the NYBOT, Arabica for September delivery rose to 114.50 US cents a pound, from 109.85 cents.
   Grains and Soya: Maize and soya prices fell as favourable growing conditions boosted supplies, while wheat prices advanced on strong demand. By Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade, the price of maize for September delivery fell to 3.235 dollars a bushel.
   On the LIFFE, the price per tonne of wheat for November delivery rose to 124.50 pounds, from 118.85 pounds.
   Sugar: On the NYBOT, the price of unrefined sugar for October delivery firmed to 10.31 US cents a pound, from 9.99 cents a week earlier.
   Rubber: On Friday, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s benchmark SMR20 rose to 205.80 US cents per kilogram, compared with 200.45 US cents last week.

European stocks posted heavy losses on Friday on the coattails of Wall Street amid disappointing corporate results and a new record high for the euro.
   In London the FTSE 100 index lost 0.83 per cent to close at 6,585.20 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.79 per cent to finish at 5,957.16 and in Frankfurt the Dax dipped 1.46 per cent to end the day at 7,874.85.
   The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares decreased by 1.71 per cent to 4,445.40.
   The euro stood at 1.3835 dollars, after reaching a new record of 1.3839.
   The rising euro and British pound are seen as bad news for European exporters, whose products become less competitive in international markets.
   Across the Atlantic shares retreated Friday as disappointment over quarterly reports from tech giants Google and Microsoft prompted a pullback a day after the Dow blue-chip index topped 14,000.
   Japanese share prices ended the week on an upbeat note following Wall Street’s rally a day earlier, dealers said.
   In London mining stocks dipped with the worlds’ biggest miner BHP Billiton losing 0.93 per cent to 1,485 pence after an Australian newspaper said the group would not make an offer for US aluminium company Alcoa.
   There had been speculation that BHP Billiton was considering a 50-billion-dollar takeover of Alcoa, which has become a potential takeover target after failing with a bid to buy Canadian rival Alcan.
   The report said BHP Billiton planned to make an offer of 45 billion dollars for US copper company Freeport McMoRan.
   Anglo American lost 1.03 per cent to 3,169 pence, while Lonmin lost 2.72 per cent to 3,685 pence.
   The FTSE’s highest riser was Friends Provident. The financial services group jumped 4.25 per cent to 186.40 pence on talk of takeover interest, dealers said.
   In Paris, French group Vallourec, which makes steel pipes, dived 4.89 per cent to 216.18 euros, as hopes of a full takeover faded.
   ‘Rumours were doing the rounds over the last few weeks that Arcelor Mittal would buy Vallourec,’ said a dealer at a major European broker.
   Instead Vallourec said Friday it had agreed to sell only two French units to the world’s biggest steel group, for an undisclosed amount.
   In Stockholm shares in telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson dived 5.18 per cent to 26.36 kronor after it reported a gain in second quarter net earnings which came in short of market expectations.

Hamdard Laboratories holds seminar
Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh held a seminar marking its 100-year service to health, education and humanity at a city hotel on Tuesday. Major General (retd) Dr ASM Matiur Rahman, adviser of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, speaks at the seminar as chief guest with chairman of the board of trustees of Hamdard Laboratories and former chief election commissioner Justice Mohammad Abdur Rouf in the chair said a press release. Mohammad Ataur Rahman, secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Sadia Rashed, chairperson of Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan, AYM Hemayetuddin, director of WAQF, Major General (retd) Sayed Mohammad Ibrahim, and members of the Hamdard board of trustees, attended the seminar special guests. National professor Dr Nurul Islam, also vice-chairman of Hamdard board of trustees and vice-chancellor of USTC, were also present at the programme. Dr Novaid-ul Zafar, managing director of Hamdard Pakistan, presented the key note paper at the seminar while Hakim Md Yousuf Haroon Bhuiyan, managing director of Hamdard Bangladesh, also spoke at the seminar on ‘100 Years Service of Hamdard to Health, Education and Humanity.’
— New Age

Nokia launches Assisted GPS service
Mobile phone set maker Nokia launched the Assisted Global Positioning System (A-GPS) service in Bangladesh Thursday to help Nokia Maps users find their current locations faster and get their desired locations quicker using the Nokia mobile device with built-in GPS. The A-GPS service will be available initially on the Nokia N95 and the Nokia 6110 Navigator. This service has the ability to reduce the time a connected mobile device with built in GPS needs to find its current position, known as time to first fix for most geographical locations worldwide, Nokia says in a statement. The service operates in tandem with a technical framework that allows third parties, such as service providers, to provide their own regional A-GPS services, making fix times even faster in certain areas for the benefit of their subscribers. ‘By decreasing the time wasted while you wait for a first fix, we are increasing the enjoyment that Nokia Maps provides,’ says Ralph Eric Kunz, vice-president of Multimedia Experiences of Nokia.
— New Age