Business Digest

February 16, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

WORLD

Mobile phone subscribers total 4.6 billion worldwide

GENEVA — The number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide has reached 4.6 billion and is expected to increase to 5 billion this year, the U.N. telecommunications agency said Monday.

Mobile phone providers in rich countries offer advanced services and handsets, while people in developing countries increasingly use the mobile phone for health services and banking, said the International Telecommunication Union.

“Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services,” said the agency’s Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure.

Greek debt crisis to top agenda of finance leaders

LONDON — European stock markets won some respite Monday ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, where the Greek debt crisis will inevitably top the agenda. Public holidays in Asia as well as the U.S. have kept volumes low.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 25.02 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,167.47 while Germany’s DAX rose 10.71 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,511.10. The CAC-40 in France was 11.27 points, or 0.3 percent, higher at 3,610.34.

IPhone application helps to fight spread of H1N1

PHILADELPHIA — A tap on the HealthMap iPhone application brings up a cluster of red pins on a map, representing nearby cases of H1N1 flu. Another tap brings up a form for ordinary Americans to add to the collection by reporting bouts of swine flu they have or know about. This is among scores of iPhone apps devoted to the swine flu, and it joins social networks, Wikipedia and flu-tracking sites as ways for consumers to share information and keep tabs on the global pandemic. Though swine flu infections have been waning, the apps have transformed the way all kinds of health crises will be tracked.

AK Steel prices rise

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — AK Steel said today that it will increase spot-market base prices by $50 per ton, effective immediately with all new orders for its carbon steel products. AK Steel said that the price increase is in response to increased demand for carbon steel products, as well as the need to recover higher costs.

AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels, primarily for automotive, appliance, construction and electrical power generation and distribution markets. The company employs about 6,200 men and women in Middletown, Mansfield, Coshocton and Zanesville, Ohio; Butler, Pennsylvania; Ashland, Kentucky; Rockport, Indiana; and its corporate headquarters in West Chester, Ohio. Additional information about AK Steel is available at www.aksteel.com

Vindicator wire services