HAWAII

Mobile 3G expands; 4G coming

Hawaii-based Mobi PCS has added new 3G cell sites on Maui and Kauai and has added capacity to existing sites serving Downtown Honolulu, the Nimitz corridor, Kaimuki and Kahala.

Mobi's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network handles an average of between 1.5 million to two million calls each day. It is the only locally operated wireless network in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Kansas-based Sprint announced this week it will expand its 4G service to Hawaii this year, via the WiMAX network of Clearwire, in which it owns a majority stake.

Whereas Sprint's 3G technology provides download speed of up to 1.4 megabits per second, its 4G technology operates at up to 12 megabits per second, said Stephanie Vinge-Walsh, spokeswoman.

No specific time-frame for Hawaii's 4G roll-out was announced.

NATION

Madoff trustee to sell trading operation

NEW YORK » A court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff's assets announced yesterday he has reached a potential $15 million deal to sell a trading operation within the disgraced financier's firm.

The agreement with Boston-based Castor Pollux Securities leaves open the possibility that the operation could go to a higher bidder before the sale is finalized, trustee Irving Picard said in a statement.

Under the terms of the deal, Castor Pollux would take over office equipment and data of the business but not the employees, who were fired yesterday. The firm would pay $500,000 at closing and then payments of up to $15 million in revenues from trades through 2012.

“;The structure of this transaction enables the Madoff victims to participate in future value derived from the assets acquired by Castor Pollux,”; Picard said.

The 70-year-old Madoff faces a maximum sentence of 150 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this month to 11 charges including fraud, perjury and money laundering.

More from Moore

Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore, center, tried to speak to traders yesterday outside the New York Stock Exchange for a new project he's working on. Caution reasserted itself on Wall Street yesterday, sending stocks sharply lower but not enough to prevent the market from notching its third straight weekly advance. » See story, Page 8.

PEOPLE

Tesoro CEO's pay fell 18.6% in 2008

MINNEAPOLIS » The chief executive of oil refiner Tesoro Corp. saw his 2008 compensation fall 18.6 percent during a year when crude prices plummeted from all-time highs.

Tesoro paid Bruce A. Smith, its chairman, CEO and president, compensation valued at $8.8 million, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing.

The pay included a salary of almost $1.3 million, up 8.2 percent from $1.2 million in 2007. He also collected stock and options valued at almost $6.9 million when they were granted on Jan. 30, 2008.

Additionally, Tesoro awarded Smith $658,137 in other compensation, most of it for dividends on restricted stock.