Telecommunications Industry

From the living room of his luxurious 10,000-square-foot midtown Manhattan apartment, Francesco Galesi built an empire that earned him a winter villa near Jamaica's Montego Bay, a 12-bedroom oceanfront castle on Long Island and a net worth of more than $400 million that once ranked him halfway up the Forbes 400 list of America's wealthiest. Galesi made his millions in real estate.

It's tough to admit, but I made a big mistake. I put all my eggs in one basket, and that basket was Time Warner Cable. As a result, when the company's system went down last week, my family lost not only all our television service, but our Internet connection and home telephones too. This may be the 21st century, but Chez Hiltzik was reduced to a dark uncivilized island, bereft of all communication with the outside world. No Netflix. No "Curb Your Enthusiasm. " No email.

Glance up from practically any city street and you'll spot dozens of little Sony, Maxell and Fujitsu satellite dishes perched on rooftops and peeking through laundry lines. Within a few short years, direct broadcast satellite television in Japan has grown into a cozy little multibillion-yen industry. America doesn't have a video business quite like it.

Sprint Nextel Corp. urged federal regulators to block a proposed acquisition that would create the nation's largest wireless carrier and leave two competitors in control of 75% of all cellphone subscriptions. AT&T Inc.'s proposed $39-billion purchase of T-Mobile USA Inc. would be an "anticompetitive acquisition," Sprint said in a statement Monday. If the deal goes through, Sprint, the nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier, would find itself a distant third, behind Verizon Wireless and a much larger AT&T.

Federal Trade Commission officials asked Congress for expanded authority over the telecommunications industry to better protect against fraud as well as deceptive advertising and billing. FTC commissioners urged members of a Senate Commerce subcommittee to rescind a provision that exempts telecommunications companies from the agency's oversight in some cases. Responsibility for regulating carriers rests with the Federal Communications Commission.

For the second time in two years, the powerful telecommunications industry has blocked a consumer-oriented bill that would have barred companies from charging land-line customers for unlisted numbers. On Tuesday, state Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) put on hold for this year a bill that would have eliminated monthly unlisted-number fees.

Irvine made a list of the top 30 cities for jobs in the telecommunications industry recently published by CorpTech, a Massachusetts company that follows employment trends in the high-tech industry. Irvine ranked No. 21 on the list, with 1,310 telecommunications jobs. The top-ranked city was Dallas, with 5,215 jobs. Other California cities appearing ahead of Irvine on the list included San Jose, San Diego, Sunnyvale, Fremont, Santa Clara and Camarillo.

Sweden's Ericsson, the world's top mobile phone equipment maker, said the hard-hit telecommunications industry is unlikely to recover next year, sending its shares down 19%. As a global economic slowdown is compounded by over-capacity and telecom companies slash investments and jobs, the market for mobile systems will see only flat to modest growth in 2001 and 2002, Chief Financial Officer Sten Fornell said at a technology summit. The company's American depositary receipts fell 97 cents to $4.

One-third of job cuts in the U.S. announced in the first six months of the year came from technology companies, led by the telecommunications industry, said a report by executive placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. One-quarter of jobs eliminated were in the market for communications equipment and services. Technology companies have cut 243,200 of the 735,527 total jobs lost in all industries since January.

FCC Readies Rules on Foreign Telecom Investment: In an effort to pry open overseas communications markets for U.S. companies, the Federal Communications Commission is set to adopt new rules governing foreign investment in the U.S. telecommunications industry. The plan spells out how the agency can block large-scale investments by foreign companies in U.S. telephone carriers, if it determines that the home countries of those companies are curbing the access of U.S. firms. Experts argue the U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission asked the nation's major telecommunications firms and Google Inc. to explain to the agency the industry's often unpopular practice of charging consumers to end their cellphone service early, a penalty known as an early-termination fee. The agency sent a set of questions -- including asking why the fees are needed at all -- in letters to AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp., T-Mobile USA and Google. "This is an essential step to ensuring that consumers have the information that helps them make informed choices in a competitive marketplace," the FCC said.

The leader of the state Senate on Tuesday rejected a controversial appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who had been bidding for a second term on the commission that regulates state utilities. Aides to Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) informed the governor's office that he would not hold a hearing to confirm Rachelle Chong. Chong, who has been severely criticized by consumer groups, was first appointed in 2006 and had been seeking a term that would have lasted through 2014.

The nation's chief telecommunications regulator on Wednesday reiterated the Obama administration's call for rules to ensure the free flow of Internet traffic, regardless of whether the data traveled over wired Internet connections or over wireless cellular networks. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, in a speech to wireless-industry executives attending the CTIA conference here, said the administration's goal in creating rules would be to eliminate "confusion" over the nation's so-called net neutrality policy, which has existed as a guideline rather than a mandate.

The Obama administration made it a national priority to spread high-speed Internet access to every American home and it offered stimulus money to help companies pay for it, but the biggest network operators are staying away from the program. With today the deadline to apply for $4.7 billion in broadband grants, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast won't be going for the stimulus money, sources close to the companies said. Their reasons are varied. All three say they have enough cash to upgrade and expand their broadband networks on their own. Some say the grant money could draw unwanted scrutiny of their business practices and compensation programs, as seen with automakers and banks that got government bailouts.

Cellphone customers gripe about being nickel-and-dimed to death by their wireless service providers. But guess what happens when you put all those nickels and dimes together? You get a really huge chunk of change. Since the beginning of the year, the four leading wireless companies -- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile -- have quietly raised a monthly fee that each charges to recoup some of their business costs. Taken individually, the fee hikes represent pocket change for most people.

Cellphone customers have long complained about exclusive deals between handset makers and wireless carriers -- many, for instance, won't buy the iPhone because it runs only on the AT&T network -- and federal authorities now are being prodded to take action. Concerns have mounted that the power that major carriers have amassed is stifling consumer choice and, perhaps, improperly propping up prices. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.

Elaine Cohen's niche as an executive recruiter, placing employees in the telecommunications industry nationwide, has taught her to master the art of long-distance relationships. Keeping ties alive with clients and candidates across the country takes commitment and availability, Cohen says. Meeting face to face, developing personal friendships and honestly assessing a candidate's chances help accomplish that. Cohen was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.

For the second time in two years, the powerful telecommunications industry has blocked a consumer-oriented bill that would have barred companies from charging land-line customers for unlisted numbers. On Tuesday, state Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) put on hold for this year a bill that would have eliminated monthly unlisted-number fees.

President-elect Barack Obama famously made the World Wide Web a pillar of his campaign, so it is not surprising that the man already being called the nation's first "wired" president has championed the idea of an open Internet. And that is what Sprint Nextel Chief Executive Dan Hesse said recently "should scare" the telecom industry the most.