July 2015

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are flying to Silicon Valley to press the nation’s biggest technology companies to hire more African-American workers — a sign that the industry’s well-documented diversity problems are starting to generate new political heat in Washington.

It’s an increasingly awkward topic for a tech industry that’s dependent on DC for action on an array of priorities, including immigration, tax and patent reform, yet whose workforce doesn’t look like the rest of America. “My district is right next to Silicon Valley, and for years and years and years, my constituents have been part of those who have not had access to these opportunities, even the ones who have the qualifications, background and skills,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), who’s helping to lead the black caucus’ tour. “We always say diversity is good for business, and the tech industry is beginning to understand that,” she said

Let’s call it the $7.5 billion lesson.

That’s the amount Microsoft wrote off on Nokia’s phone unit, which it bought a little over a year ago for what it said was $9.5 billion. Considering that the deal included $1.5 billion in cash, the write-off means Microsoft now values a business that once controlled 41 percent of the global handset market at just a small fraction of the purchase price. Thanks in large part to the huge accounting charge, Microsoft reported its largest quarterly loss ever ($3.2 billion). It was only the third loss in its history as a public company.

“If you were talking about any other industry, this would be considered a catastrophe that’s the equivalent to a natural disaster,” said Horace Dediu, who spent eight years at Nokia during its heyday and is now at the San Francisco research firm Clayton Christensen Institute, which studies disruptive technologies. This being the technology business, Microsoft’s still relatively new chief executive, Satya Nadella, gets credit for swiftly confronting reality and taking the hit to earnings.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, August 6, 2015:

• The Commission will consider a Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will advance longstanding competition and consumer protection policies on a technologically-neutral basis, and further the technology transitions underway in our Nation’s fixed communications networks that offer the prospect of innovative and improved services to consumers and businesses alike.
• The Commission will consider a Report and Order that will protect consumers through the transitions from legacy copper networks to modern networks by adopting rules to ensure that consumers have options, and sufficient information about those options, to maintain 911 communications at home during power outages.
• The Commission will consider an Order on Reconsideration addressing petitions for reconsideration of certain aspects of the Mobile Spectrum Holdings Report and Order.
• The Commission will take the next step to commencing the incentive auction in the first quarter of 2016 by considering the Procedures Public Notice, which adopts a balanced set of auction procedures that will ensure an effective, efficient, and timely auction. The Public Notice establishes and provides information on final procedures for setting the initial spectrum clearing target, qualifying to bid, and bidding in the reverse and forward auctions.
• The Commission will consider a Report and Order that adopts technical and operational rules for unlicensed services, including wireless microphone operations, in the broadcast television bands and in the post-incentive auction 600 MHz band. The rules are intended to maximize unlicensed access to spectrum while ensuring that licensed services are protected from harmful interference.
• The Commission will consider a Report and Order that adopts a plan to accommodate the long-term needs of wireless microphone users by providing new opportunities for their use in the broadcast television bands and in several other frequency bands.
• The Commission will consider an Eleventh Notice of Inquiry on whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed and is available to all Americans, including, in particular, elementary and secondary schools and classrooms, in a reasonable and timely fashion.

The Federal Communications Commission plans a $2.4 million fine against Long Distance Consolidated Billing Company. This telephone company, based in Waterford (MI), allegedly switched consumers’ regional toll service providers without their authorization (“slamming”), misrepresented the company’s identity during telemarketing calls, and placed unauthorized charges on consumers’ telephone bills (“cramming”).

The Enforcement Bureau reviewed over 70 complaints against Long Distance Consolidated Billing Company (LDCB) that consumers filed with the FCC, the Better Business Bureau, state regulatory agencies, and directly with LDCB. Consumers repeatedly complained that LDCB switched their regional toll service providers without their authorization. In some cases, consumers stated that LDCB’s telemarketer pretended to be employed by the consumer’s own telephone carrier. The investigation also showed that LDCB placed charges for its service on consumers’ local telephone bills without their authorization. The FCC has charged LDCB with willfully and repeatedly switching consumers’ preferred regional toll carrier without verified authorization, misrepresenting its identity to consumers, and cramming unauthorized charges onto consumers’ telephone bills. FCC rules prohibit a carrier from switching a customer’s preferred long distance carrier without obtaining authorization from the customer to make such a change.