Call center will add 75 jobs

NORTH CHARLESTON A call center in North Charleston is adding 75 new jobs. NCO Financial Systems Inc. announced the expansion Thursday. The company handles billing services for utilities and telecom companies at the North Charleston facility that now employs more than 600 people. The expansion is scheduled to be completed in January, and the company will begin hiring for the new positions immediately. For jobs: ncogroup.com or (843) 529-4701.

Spirit Airlines will start earlier next year

MYRTLE BEACH Spirit Airlines will start flights to five cities from Myrtle Beach earlier than usual next year, giving travelers more options during what is traditionally the beach’s slow season. Spirit, which carries about half the passengers each year at Myrtle Beach International Airport, said Thursday that flights to Chicago; Detroit; Latrobe, Pa.; Charleston, W.Va.; and Niagara Falls, N.Y., would start in February and early March, between a month and three months earlier than usual. The early start of flights from these five cities — among the top golf and vacation markets for the Grand Strand — could jumpstart the season and help the airport’s sagging passenger numbers, which prompted officials to step up efforts to keep and boost air service. Through October, the number of outgoing passengers is down 16 percent from the same 10-month period in 2011, which was a record year for the airport.

T-Mobile likely will start carrying iPhone

NEW YORK T-Mobile will likely start carrying the iPhone next year after its parent company, Deutsche Telekom, says it has reached a new deal with Apple. T-Mobile USA had been the lone iPhone holdout among the four national wireless carriers in the U.S. Although it has been possible to use iPhones on T-Mobile networks, customers had to provide the phones themselves. The three larger carriers, AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., already sell the iPhone, as do many smaller ones. Deutsche Telekom said Thursday that T-Mobile will add Apple products to its portfolio in the coming year. Though it didn’t mention the iPhone by name in its press release, that’s the product it is most likely referring to.

New venture will launch people to moon for $1.5 billion

WASHINGTON A team of former NASA executives is launching a private venture to send people to the moon for a price that is definitely out of this world. For $1.5 billion, the newly formed business is offering countries a two-person trip to the moon, either for research or national prestige. The venture was announced Wednesday.

Food prices fell in November

ROME A United Nations agency says prices of basic foods fell by 1.5 percent last month, with the international prices of all commodities except dairy products dropping. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday that the decline puts the value of its November index nearly 3 percent below a year ago.

The Associated Press and The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News contributed.