AT&T Says Facebook is ‘Major Force’ in Mobile Business

AT&T Says Facebook is ‘Major Force’ in Mobile Business
09/05/2012 by Emily Price on Mashable

NEW ORLEANS – Speaking during a keynote session at CTIA Wireless on Tuesday, AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega said Facebook is good for his company’s business.

“I think that social networking is going to be a major force in this industry for years to come,” says Vega. “I think it helps people communicate. That’s what we do.”

T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm agreed, adding that Facebook’s social networking app was his company’s “number one app right now” and has customers “picking up their phone 150 times a day.”

When asked if Facebook was worth the same as Verizon, Verizon CEO Dan Mead said “our market value is very solid,” and that he would leave commenting on Facebook to the experts.

The CEOs of all four major carriers participated in a keynote session at CTIA entitled “Beyond LTE – Carrier Innovations.” Each CEO was given the opportunity to talk on a topic of their choice. Mead spoke on the need for spectrum.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said “it has never been more important for the industry to gain the public’s trust, ” adding that even cable and oil companies currently rate higher with consumers than mobile carriers.

Hunn talked about the need for intelligent unlimited data plans, while Vega showed off some of AT&T’s plans for home automation. He demonstrated how your smartphone can lock your doors, let you know what your kids are doing at home, and monitor energy use.

What effect do you think social networking has on mobile carriers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.




Source: Mashable.com

Save our jobs, Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Save our jobs, Prime Minister Julia Gillard - workers
by: Stephen Drill and Phillip Hudson From: Herald Sun February 28, 2012 12:00AM

Prime Julia Gillard is being urged to save jobs in the manufacturing industry. News Limited

WORKERS facing the axe are pleading for Prime Minister Julia Gillard to put the same passion into saving their jobs as she did into saving her own.

Manufacturing workers who fear for their future have called on Ms Gillard to act immediately, after she crushed Kevin Rudd to stay as Labor's leader.

At Toyota's plant in Altona - Ms Gillard's home suburb - 350 workers will lose their jobs on April 16. "When Julia knew Kevin Rudd was after her job she worked hard to save her own skin," said Michael Spiteri.

 "She's screwing us workers, especially low-income families - stop making big deals overseas, look at all the jobs going overseas."

Paul Howes, Australian Workers Union national secretary, said a shift in attention towards jobs, instead of on Labor's internal politics, was absolutely vital.

"The reality is with the dollar as high as it is we are going to continue to see substantial job losses out of the manufacturing industry," he said.

"We are concerned about what is being done to address these major changes taking place."

Ms Gillard last night admitted voters had had a gutful of Labor's ugly leadership drama and pledged to fight for the jobs of all Australians.

"The Australian people rightly expect government to focus on you, for you to be at the centre of everything that government does," she said.

"I feel impatient ... to get on with the job of building this country's future.

"Impatient with getting on with the work that we need to do so that in the future Australians have the benefit of jobs."

After being re-elected PM in a crushing 71-31 win over Kevin Rudd, Ms Gillard asked voters to "trust me".

She will today switch the focus to her $3 billion plan to boost skills, which she says can deliver $300,000 more in life-time earnings.

She will soon announce a multi-million dollar plan to rescue jobs at Holden and supply chain jobs across the nation and says running a strong economy will help companies doing it tough because of the high dollar.

AMWU vehicle division federal secretary Ian Jones said the automotive industry was braced for more job losses. "It requires a government that understands our industry and has compassion for the people within it," he said.

 - with Shannon Deery

Source: Heraldsun