Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word network. 13 news.

AUSTRALIA'S competition watchdog said yesterday it had rejected a proposal led by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd to build a multi-billion-dollar high-speed broadband network in Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission rejected the bid proposed by SingTel and eight other telecommunications groups, saying it did not have adequate audit mechanisms. "The undertaking gives the network owner a high degree of discretion in unilaterally determining non-price terms and conditions for the 15-year undertaking period, without independent regulatory review," ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said. "We could not accept so much discretion from a gas, electricity or rail firm. Access seekers would not know where they stood." The regulator, however, said it was generally comfortable with the pricing structured offered by the so-called "G9" consortium, and that it was open to receiving a revised proposal. David Tudehope, chief executive of

Shares of Ciena Corp. continued to slip after a 12 percent loss last week when the network...

NBC's two late-night franchises are coming back. Will the laughs come with them? Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien plan a Jan. 2 return with fresh episodes, ending two months of reruns brought on by the writers' strike, the network said Monday. But until the strike is settled, the hosts will be on their own.

Hank Paulson will have at least one job offer he'll love upon leaving the Bush administration - anchor on a new syndicated news service called Bird News Network. The Treasury secretary and former Goldman Sachs chief keeps his wits and balance...

A second network is returning money to advertisers in the face of hefty ratings declines this season. The CW was forced to put the process in motion as ratings sputtered deep into the fall, preventing the network from making good on unfulfilled guarantees going back to last season.

Interpublic, in the throes of a plan to find greater operating efficiencies among its media operations, just found two: The consolidation of one of its boutique media buying and planning units into a bigger network; and the departure of the top executive of a high profile media negotiating unit in what could be a harbinger of other changes to come. Media First International, an entrepreneurial media shop acquired by Interpublic in 2002, will be folded into Initiative North America, effective Jan. 1, 2008, the same date Bill Cella steps down as chairman-CEO of Interpublic's Magna Global Worldwide unit. Interpublic insiders maintain that both moves were made independent of a new holding company task force created to find and implement operating efficiencies across its media services operations.

Ad spending on online social networks worldwide will nearly double, to $2.2 billion in 2008 from $1.2 billion this year, according to an eMarketer study being released today. Most spending will come from the U.S., where social network advertising is projected to grow to $1.6 billion next year, from $920 million in 2007. MySpace and Facebook dominate U.S. social network advertising, claiming 70% of ad dollars.

[Telecom] The company stepped into an aggressive advertising campaign Sunday, running full-page ads in 20 daily newspapers around the country to let consumers know they can get NFL Network as part of the carrier's most popular programming packages on U-verse or Homezone.

Most shows don't fall under WGA contracts, a boon to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. You won't see SpongeBob SquarePants or Dora the Explorer on the picket lines. JoJo, Ed, Edd and Eddy also are sitting it out.

In its attempts to combat a volley of network spammers -- Google accidentally disabled a number of innocent Gmail accounts…

As the explosion of online social networking grows new marketing opportunities, Advertising.com is capitalizing on the trend -- opening its network of ads to developers of lighthearted software applications used on the sites hundreds of millions of times a day.

Working with communities in 15 counties, a coalition of land trusts and foundations aims to piece together a 500-mile network of greenway trails in the Charlotte region.