By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff

The US Department of Commerce has awarded $2 million to a Massachusetts state agency to create a map of the state's broadband Internet services.

The money will go to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, which was founded last year to expand affordable Internet access throughout the state.

The Commerce Department plans to provide similar grants to all 50 states, in a bid to create a national inventory of broadband Internet services, and to determine the best way to extend service to all parts of the country. The program is being funded through the $787 billion economic stimulus package enacted by the federal government earlier this year.

While many other providers of cable television service lost subscribers, Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS TV service has seen gains off a modest starting point, according to figures from the Massachusetts Department of Television and Cable.

As of 2005, Verizon did not offer cable TV service in Massachusetts. Starting in Woburn, Verizon launched its FiOS TV service in Massachusetts in January 2006, a company spokesman said, and today FiOS TV service is available in 103 Bay State communities.

That growth is reflected in state figures. At the end of 2006, Verizon had just under 12,000 cable TV subscribers. At the end of 2007, that number jumped to 78,406. And at the end of 2008, there were 159,821 Verizon FiOS TV subscribers in Massachusetts. FiOS is the only kind of cable TV service that Verizon offers in Massachusetts.

"We will continue to expand the network and offer the advantages of FiOS TV and bring cable choice to even more consumers in Massachusetts," a Verizon spokesman said.

According to state figures, Comcast is the largest provider of cable TV service in Massachusetts. At the end of 2008, there were just over 2.1 million cable TV subscribers in the state, and Comcast had 1,620,853 of them. At the end of 2007, Comcast had 1,652,233 cable TV subscribers, the state said.

A Comcast spokesman noted that competition is fierce, with cable operators facing off not only against one another but also going up against satellite TV providers.

"Comcast competes every day across all three of our product lines with a variety of different providers including two satellite TV providers," the Comcast spokesman said.

Besides cable TV, Comcast also offers Internet service and phone service in Massachusetts.

RCN Corp., which offers cable TV service in such local communities as Arlington, Boston, Brookline, and Somerville, posted a gain in subscribers between 2007 and 2008, state figures show.

At the end of 2007, RCN had 64,319 cable TV subscribers in Massachusetts, the state said; at the end of 2008, that number was 64,812.

"We held our own" in markets where RCN competed against both Comcast and Verizon, said an RCN spokesman, who added that RCN posted small gains in such communities as Boston, Milton, Somerville, and Watertown. (Globe Staff)


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(Photo provided by the Mandarin Oriental, Boston)

It's official. The Mandarin Oriental, Boston may be as chi-chi and as elegant as you think it is.

The American Automobile Association said it has conferred its highest rating - five diamonds - on the luxury hotel in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood.

Of the 58,000 hotels, lodgings, restaurants, and other properties that AAA surveyed this year for the latest edition of its AAA TourBook travel guides, only 165 earned five diamonds, AAA public relations manager Heather Hunter said.

"It's for service that exceeds expectations," Hunter said of the five diamonds rating.

The only other Boston hotel to earn five diamonds in the AAA's latest ratings is the Four Seasons; this is the Boston Four Seasons hotel's 22nd straight year of earning five diamonds, Hunter said.

Before awarding five diamonds, AAA dispatches a professional inspector to check into a hotel anonymously and submit a report that is factored into the rating process, Hunter said.

"The five diamond award is a direct reflection of the dedication and outstanding service provided by all our employees at Mandarin Oriental, Boston," Mandarin Oriental, Boston general manager Susanne Hatje said in a statement. " This coveted status is a prestigious accolade and speaks volume about the exceptional commitment our hotel has towards ensuring each and every guest receives an exemplary experience. We look forward to celebrating this highly regarded achievement with our guests, colleagues and the city of Boston in the coming year." (Globe Staff)

uri.jpgSuffolk Education, a unit of Suffolk Construction Co. Inc., said it has been awarded a contract to manage the construction of a $45 million College of Pharmacy building at the University of Rhode Island.

The new 147,000 square-foot laboratory and academic building will be built in close proximity to four existing active campus buildings and is scheduled to open in fall 2011, Boston-based Suffolk Construction said.

The architect on the project is Payette, and the Boston firm made the rendering of the project that appears with this post.

Suffolk said it will work closely with Payette and the university to ensure that the new facility meets LEED Silver certification standards. (Globe Staff)

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(File photo of Newbury St. Hotel Chocolat: Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

Not content to sell sweets just on Newbury Street, Hotel Chocolat says it will open a second US location at the Mall in Chestnut Hill later this month.

The boutique retailer describes itself as a British luxury chocolatier, and it offers a pronunciation guide to the customers of its gourmet chocolate gifts and personal indulgences. It's "Hotel shok-o-La" for Henry Higgins types who demand perfect enunciation.

A recent Globe story about the company's arrival on Newbury Street noted: "Outside Hotel Chocolat, a bicycle with a British flag beckons consumers inside where employees serve up samples of milk and dark chocolate on silver platters. Hotel Chocolat selected Newbury Street to launch its first US store and showcase the merchant's vast assortment of rich sweets with a 'British sense of humor,' according to Nicki Doggart, Hotel Chocolat's US chief executive. These include chocolates shaped like antique buttons, vintage chocolate bars made from a single estate cocoa harvest, and chocolate pasta." (Globe Staff)

Boston Scientific Corp., the Natick medical device maker, said it has reached an agreement in principle with the US Justice Department under which it will pay $296 million to settle allegations that its Guidant subsidiary had violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Boston Scientific, which had previously disclosed the investigation of Guidant by the US attorney’s office in Minneapolis, noted in a press release that Guidant's alleged misconduct occurred before Boston Scientific bought Guidant in 2006.

As a result of the settlement, Boston Scientific said it has updated its third-quarter results, recording a third-quarter charge of $294 million, and revised its guidance.

Boston Scientific said it is now reporting a third-quarter loss of $94 million versus a previously reported net income of $200 million.

The company said it now expects net income on a GAAP basis of 23 to 28 cents per share for the full year ending Dec. 31. Its previous guidance was in the range of 43 to 48 cents a share.

In addition, the terms of the agreement call for Guidant to plead to two misdemeanor charges related to failure to include information in reports to the US Food and Drug Administration, Boston Scientific said.

Boston Scientific president and chief executive Ray Elliott said in a statement: "We are pleased this investigation has been resolved. Guidant and its employees acted in good faith and believed they complied with applicable laws and regulations. We elected to resolve this matter so we could put it behind us and devote our full energies and resources to developing our innovative technologies."

Guidant makes defibrillators. Boston Scientific paid $27 billion to buy Guidant. (Globe Staff)

Associated Press

Cambridge drug developer Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. said yesterday its third-quarter loss widened slightly on overall costs as it continues developing potential cancer treatments.

The company reported a loss of $20.8 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with a loss of $20 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. The company had fewer shares outstanding in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 40 percent, to $2.2 million from $1.5 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 18 cents per share on revenue of about $2.6 million.

The company's lead product candidates include the cancer treatment ridaforolimus, which is being developed in a partnership with Merck & Co.

Associated Press

Biotechnology company ArQule Inc., a Woburn biotechnology company, said yesterday that its third-quarter loss narrowed on a boost in partnership payments, with a focus on the potential cancer treatment ARQ 197.

ArQule reported a loss of $8.1 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a loss of $11.3 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier. Research and development revenue jumped to $6.4 million from $2.7 million.

Thomson Reuters says analysts were expecting a loss of 26 cents per share and $5.9 million in revenue.

The revenue boost came from partnerships with Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo Co., which includes work on ARQ 197 and with the company's technology platform. ArQule said it expects a full-year loss between 98 cents and $1.05 per share, on revenue between $21 million and $24 million. Analysts expect a loss of 97 cents per share on revenue of $32.1 million.

ArQule also said it expects to end the year with between $157 million and $160 million in cash and marketable securities.

beerman.jpg RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp., the Worcester biopharmaceutical company that seeks to develop drugs based on the Nobel Prize winning work of Craig Mello in gene-silencing research, announced that Noah D. Beerman has joined the company as its new president and chief executiver.

"The appointment of Mr. Beerman (right) as CEO is part of a planned succession in leadership as the company looks to advance from the research stage to product development and execution of therapeutic collaborations and partnerships," RXi said in a press release. "He succeeds RXi's co-founder, Tod Woolf, Ph.D., who will continue as a member of RXi's Scientific Advisory Board."

Beerman joins RXi with more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and most recently served as executive vice president and chief business officer for Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc., which was acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals in March, RXi said.

Beerman said in a statement, "My experience in building clinical pipelines will help guide the company as it looks to advance products using its breakthrough technology and advanced therapeutic platform."

RXi is focused on developing and commercializing therapeutics based on RNA interference. Describing RNAi, a story in the Globe archives noted that RNAi has the power to turn genes on and off, thus muting their function inside a cell, and that capacity could lead to medicines that mount a highly focused attack on a disease by shutting off a dangerous gene or attacking a virus at a vulnerable point.

The photo of Beerman that appears with this post was included with the company's press release. (Globe Staff)

State Street Corp., a Boston company that provides financial services to large investors, said that it added $250 million as of Sept. 30 to the reserve it established in 2007 to address legal exposure related to losses incurred by investors in certain active fixed-income strategies managed by State Street Global Advisors, or SSgA.

In a press release, State Street said it "believes the adjusted reserve should be sufficient to account for a potential resolution of proceedings by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other governmental authorities, and to address ongoing litigation with respect to this matter." Before recording the $250 million provision for legal exposure, the legal reserve totaled $193 million.

State Street also announced that it recently "entered into a settlement of the purported class action with respect to ERISA participants in the active fixed -income strategies. The proposed settlement of $89.75 million is subject to court approval."

The press release added: "State Street's outlook for the full-year 2009 remains unchanged with operating basis revenue expected to decline about 16 percent from the record level of 2008; operating earnings per share, excluding the impact of the extraordinary loss recorded upon consolidation of the commercial paper conduits in the second quarter of 2009, and the provision for legal exposure announced today, to be between $4.13 and $4.17 and operating return on equity to be between 14 and 17 percent." (Globe Staff)

Associated Press

BOSTON - Technology-services provider Sapient Corp. said Thursday that third-quarter profits plunged by two-thirds, partly due to special charges, and the chief executive said customers were growing more confident in business prospects.

The company said it earned $5.9 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $18.1 million, or 14 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding items, the company said it would have earned 11 cents per share, down from 18 cents per share a year ago.

The company identified $8.6 million in charges for stock-based compensation, restructuring, amortization of assets it bought, and acquisition-related costs.

Revenue fell to $172.5 million from $184.1 million a year earlier.

Analysts expected the company to earn 7 cents per share, excluding items, on sales of $162 million.

Chief executive Alan J. Herrick said he was pleased with the company's profit "despite the recessionary climate." He said clients were growing more confident about business.

Today in Globe Business

November 6, 2009 06:01 AM |Comments ()

Credit card firms hurry to raise rates

Credit card companies are rushing to increase interest rates to historic highs of more than 30 percent, cut credit limits, and add new fees, even for customers who pay their bills on time.

Lenders are making the moves in advance of tougher federal regulations for credit cards scheduled to take effect on Feb. 22. The new rules will limit how companies can modify credit card agreements, specifically prohibiting them from retroactively raising interest rates and fees on existing balances.

US Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Financial Services Committee and is a leader in the effort to revamp credit card policies, said banks have “abused’’ the nine-month period granted them to re-tool their practices.

To read the full story, please click here.
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Net widens in Galleon investigation

The biggest hedge fund insider trading case in US history ensnared more Massachusetts companies yesterday as federal investigators brought new charges against 14 people, including a Westwood investor.

Steven Fortuna, a hedge fund manager with a home in Westwood, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to illegally trading shares of Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge. Arthur Cutillo, a New York attorney for Boston law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, was arrested and charged with leaking inside information about a Bain Capital LLC plan to buy 3Com Corp. in Marlborough. Florida hedge fund investor Roomy Khan pleaded guilty to making illicit trades in several stocks, including Kronos Inc. of Chelmsford, netting her about $1.6 million in profits. She is cooperating with authorities.

The charges are related to the case against Galleon Group of New York, a now-defunct hedge fund. Galleon’s cofounder, billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, was one of six people arrested and charged last month in connection with making $25 million from illegal trades in stocks of several companies, including Akamai.

To read the full story, please click here.
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Bank officials to testify Nov. 17

A congressional committee investigating Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch has set a new date for a public hearing at which several prominent bank officials from Massachusetts are scheduled to testify.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will a hold a hearing Nov. 17 at which Bank of America senior executive Brian Moynihan and directors Charles K. Gifford, former chief executive of FleetBoston Financial, and Thomas May, CEO of NStar, have been asked to testify, according to three people briefed on the matter. All three live in the Boston area and are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The hearing is expected to focus on Bank of America’s $50 billion acquisition of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch. Moynihan was the company’s chief legal counsel at the time the deal was completed Jan. 1.

To read the full story, please click here.
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Courting gay travelers

When William Buswell crunched the numbers from his recent fall foliage tours, he was surprised by what he found: The gay-themed trips, which can include visits to drag shows, were 86 percent full, while the other leaf-peeping trips organized by his Vermont-based New England Vacation Tours Inc. were 70 percent full. Last fall, before the recession set in, the occupancy rate for both kinds of tours was the same.

“The gay and lesbian market is a very profitable market to go after,’’ said Buswell, who lately has noticed more marketing directed at gay travelers.

Local tourism agencies are among the groups trying to appeal to these travelers, who represent a small fraction of the overall market but have a median household income of $86,400 and spent $70 billion on travel last year, according to the San Francisco-based market research firm Community Marketing Inc.

To read the full story, please click here.
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New England's 7th Spanish-language paper begins publishing

At a time when the recession is battering newspapers, a group of Latino journalists in Massachusetts has launched New England’s seventh Spanish-language weekly newspaper.

El Tiempo de Boston, or The Boston Times, began publishing last week as a free paper that focuses on communities with large Latino populations. Coverage also includes local immigration, financial consumer stories, and articles about Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

“We saw that there was little coverage and information in other media and we wanted to respond to the needs of the Latino community,’’ said Maximo Torres, 60, founding director of the paper, a native of Peru where he was a journalism professor, and former city editor of Boston’s oldest Spanish-language paper, El Mundo.

To read the full story, please click here.
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By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

Borders Group is shuttering about 200 book stores, including 5 shops in Massachusetts, as part of an effort to turn around the struggling company.

All four Waldenbooks stores in the Commonwealth will be closing in January at the following shopping centers: Westgate Mall in Brockton, Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough, and Eastfield Mall in Springfield. A Borders Express shop also will be shuttering at Emerald Square Mall in North Attleborough.

As long as the stores remain open, they will honor previously purchased gift cards, and gift cards can continue to be used in any Borders or Waldenbooks location or online at Borders.com.

Borders Group chief executive Ron Marshall, in a statement released today, said: "We believe there remains an opportunity to profitably operate a much smaller Waldenbooks segment that complements our core Borders superstore business and continues to serve readers in their communities." After the five stores close in Massachusetts, Borders Group will operate 22 book in the state.

By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff

Three Bank of America officials with Boston ties have been asked to testify at a congressional hearing later this month.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has asked two key board members, former FleetBoston Financial chief executive Charles K. Gifford, NStar chief executive Thomas May, as well as senior bank executive Brian Moynihan to testify at hearing on Nov. 17, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The hearing will focus on Bank of America's controversial $50 billion acquisition of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch. Moynihan was the company's chief counsel at the time the deal was completed on Jan. 1. Former chief counsel Timothy J. Mayopolous, who Moynihan replaced, is also expected to testify. The hearing was originally slated to be held last month, but was postponed to allow the committee to do additional inquiries.

Bank of America, which received $45 billion in government aid, has been accused of misleading shareholders about the acquisition by failing to disclose the extent of Merrill Lynch's mounting losses and the fact that Bank of America gave Merrill Lynch permission to issue $5.8 billion in bonuses. In addition, committee investigators are trying to determine whether Bank of America threatened to back out of the deal in December in order to pressure the government to give it additional aid.

Full entry

The New Hampshire Bankers Association, a not-for-profit trade association representing banking institutions in New Hampshire, has named Piscataqua Savings Bank president and chief executive Jay S. Gibson as the new chairman of the association's board.

Gibson had served on the board and in various other capacities for the association over the past three years, and he will serve as chair for one year, Portsmouth, N.H.-based Piscataqua Savings said in a press release.

"There are some very significant issues in community banking at this time and I believe it’s important for community banks to be involved in the process in order to preserve the future of local banking," Gibson said in a statement. "I look forward to representing New Hampshire banks in the year ahead."

While serving as chairman, Gibson will continue in his role as president and chief executive of Piscataqua Savings. (Globe Staff)

By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff

The insider trading case that rocked Wall Street last month grew even larger today, drawing in more Massachusetts companies and a hedge fund manager with a home in Westwood.

The US Department of Justice said that hedge fund managers used inside information to illegally trade shares of Marlborough network technology company 3Com Corp. and Kronos Inc. of Chelmsford, a maker of workforce management software.

US attorneys said that in the 3Com case, the inside information came from a New York attorney employed by the prominent Boston law firm Ropes & Gray. The attorney allegedly got the information while acting as an advisor to Boston investment firm Bain Capital LLC during its 2007 acquisition of 3Com.

US attorneys in New York today announced the arrests of nine suspects in the case on charges that include trading on inside information about Bain's plan to acquire 3Com, and the purchase that same year of Kronos by the equity firm of Hellmann & Friedman.

In addition, the government announced that Steven Fortuna of Westwood, former managing director of S2 Capital LLC in Boston, has pleaded guilty to insider trading involving shares of Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge.

Last month, Danielle Chiesi, an employee of New York hedge fund New Castle Funds LLC, was arrested for insider trading of Akamai stock. It was alleged that Chiesi shared her inside information with Fortuna. His S2 hedge fund used the knowledge to make illicit trades of Akamai stock which netted the fund a profit of about $2.4 million.

To read the criminal complaints on the Department of Justice web site, please click here.

Akamai Technologies Inc., the Cambridge company that specializes in technology that aims to provide for the speedy delivery of robust Web content, said it will be part of an effort to provide live and on-demand video for the NBC TV network during NBC's coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in February.

In a press release, Akamai said it has been selected along with iStreamPlanet to work with Microsoft Corp. on the project.

"iStreamPlanet will be providing turnkey satellite downlink encoding and production services to the Smooth Streaming for Silverlight format, and the video will be delivered to online audiences over the Akamai HD Network," Akamai said.

The release included a statement from Akamai executive vice president Robert Hughes, who said: "With consumer appetite for online video increasing and quality improving, we expect the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games will prove to be a milestone in innovation and online video. Akamai is thrilled to support NBC's innovative coverage of this global event. The Akamai HD Network is designed to let broadcasters enhance television coverage by enabling the highest possible online video experiences, complete with interactivity and at broadcast scale." (Globe Staff)

SJB Bagel Makers of Boston, the new name of the parent company of the local Finagle a Bagel chain, said it has launched an ad campaign to promote the introduction of its frozen bagel line to supermarket chains.

The campaign is made up of a series of TV ads that will air in the Boston area, and the ads introduce viewers to a cast of bagel bakers – Mikey, Ross, Luke, Murph, and Charly – who work at the bagel chain's Newton headquarters, the company said in a press release.

"The commercials play like a sitcom, introducing the characters and developing their personalities over the course of the series," the press release said. In an ad titled "Savant," for example, the baker named Ross "demonstrates his incredible talent for identifying bagels and their imperfections." One tag-line: "Finagle knows bagels."

The release included a statement from SJB Bagel Makers of Boston president Laura Trust.

"These five characters let the viewer in on the labor of love that goes into making each and every Finagle handmade boiled and baked bagel," Trust said.

One spot includes language that "may not be appropriate for younger viewers," the company said. For the moment, that ad will be available for viewing only on the Finagle website, the company said.

In any case, other ads in the campaign are airing on TV as the company is in the process of rolling out a line of line of frozen Finagle a Bagel bagels to grocery stores in New England and in such states as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Delaware.

The ads are currently airing on WCVB-TV (Ellen and Oprah); WFXT-TV (Dr. Oz and Morning News); WHDH-TV (Today and LIVE with Regis & Kelly), among others, the company said. (Globe Staff)


Fidelity Investments, the Boston mutual fund giant, said in a press release that it is adding an online tool for investors who are contemplating moving some of their retirement savings to a Roth IRA savings account.

On Jan. 1, the eligibility rules for such accounts are scheduled to change, and that change should mean that more people will have the option of investing in them.

Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible, but an investor’s money can grow tax-free, with the ability to take tax-free withdrawals in retirement, Fidelity has said. And as Fidelity sees it, a Roth IRA has the potential to be a good component of a larger retirement savings strategy for many investors.

With an eye on the Roth IRA rule change, Fidelity today unveiled the addition of new resources to its comprehensive Roth IRA Conversion guidance initiative; the goal of those resources is to help investors determine whether converting some retirement assets to a Roth IRA makes sense for them within the context of their overall retirement plan, Fidelity said. (Globe Staff)

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(Photo of haptic cow provided by SensAble)

sensable.jpgNeed to brush up your skills for midwifing a pregnant cow? Then SensAble Technologies Inc. of Woburn may have some good news for you.

In a press release today, the Woburn company noted that a senior lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College in London was named the UK's "Most Innovative Teacher of the Year" for creating a simulator/teaching tool that uses a SensAble product.

SensAble makes force-feedback haptic devices, along with the software to program them. These devices allow users to not only see and hear an on-screen computer application, but to "feel" it as well, the company says.

It was some of this technology that Dr. Sarah Baillie, the London veterinary lecturer, put to use in "creating a haptically-enabled simulator that teaches veterinary students essential skills of examining a pregnant cow," SensAble said. "The acclaimed 'Haptic Cow' uses a SensAble haptic (force-feedback) device to deliver the feeling of internal organs that a veterinary student must assess as they place their arm inside a cow to perform a 'blind' examination. The application allows an instructor to watch what's taking place inside the cow on a computer screen as the student palpates its internal organs - an impossibility in traditional training on live animals. The Haptic Cow even says "Moo!" when the student's rough handling exceeds a predetermined vet-safe force threshold."

In the photo that tops this post, Baillie is wearing a baseball cap and instructing a student who is examining the haptic cow on the left. A real cow looks on at right. (Globe Staff)

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