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Ruth J. Morrison

Ruth J. Morrison

FTC Sues AT&T Over ‘Unlimited’ Data Promises

AT&T is in a little bit of hot water with the FTC, yet again.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a federal court complaint against AT&T Mobility, LLC, charging that the company has misled millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for "unlimited" data plans while reducing their data speeds, in some cases by nearly 90 percent.

The FTC's complaint alleges that the company failed to adequately disclose to its customers on unlimited data plans that, if they reach a certain amount of data use in a given billing cycle, AT&T reduces – or "throttles" – their data speeds to the point that many common mobile phone applications – like web browsing, GPS navigation and watching streaming video – become difficult or nearly impossible to use.

"AT&T promised its customers 'unlimited' data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. "The issue here is simple: 'unlimited' means unlimited."

According to the FTC's complaint, AT&T's marketing materials emphasized the "unlimited" amount of data that would be available to consumers who signed up for its unlimited plans. The complaint alleges that, even as unlimited plan consumers renewed their contracts, the company still failed to inform them of the throttling program. When customers canceled their contracts after being throttled, AT&T charged those customers early termination fees, which typically amount to hundreds of dollars.

AT&T mobile customers and mobile customers in general will probably welcome clarity regarding unlimited data plans.

Motorola Brings Forth The Droid Turbo

The new Motorola Droid phone is here.

It is the Motorola Droid Turbo.

The most prominent and highlighted feature of the new Motorola Droid Turbo phone is its battery's ability to charge quickly and last for up to 48 hours.

It also weighs in at almost half a pound (6.2 ounces).

The phone comes in 32GB and 64GB versions, with options for black Ballistic Nylon, Metallic Black or Metallic Red.

Motorola-Droid-Turbo styles

From the Verizon Wireless' website, most Droid Turbo users are happy with their purchase. However, there was at least one user that gave the phone 4 out of 5 stars, not too happy with the Ballistic Nylon.

Screenshot Motorola-Droid-Turbo Verizon Wireless 700x237

The 32GB model starts at $199 on contract or $25/month with Verizon Edge, and the 64GB model goes for $249 on contract or $27/month with Edge.

Facebook’s 2014 Q3 Earning Call: Shows You Can’t Please Everybody

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) held its 2014 Q3 earnings call on Tuesday and although the social media giant's numbers were impressive, Wall Street was not exactly thrilled.

Facebook's growth slowed from 3.125 percent last quarter to 2.27 percent this quarter. In after-hours trading, Facebook's stock was down 9.76 percent. Additionally, Facebook broke out the financials of its $22 billion WhatsApp acquisition for the first time, and they were a little disappointing. WhatsApp brought in just $15 million in revenue in the first half of 2014 despite having 600 million users.

Ouch!

And, what about the teen metric?

Mum was the word, the world's social connector refused to break out any data about usage levels of teens. Anecdotal evidence says that teens are abandoning Facebook for apps like Snapchat. When asked about engagement for different demographics, Facebook's CFO David Wehner said the company had nothing to report on specific cohorts of users.

So what's the good news?

Facebook's billion user march! Each month, 1.35 billion people log into Facebook; 864 million are daily active users, which is up from 829 million in the second quarter of 2014. If you prefer percentages as a metric, 64% of monthly active users log on to Facebook every day.

Revenues? How about $3.2b in total revenue and $766 million in free cash flow in the third quarter.

Advertising. Facebook turned in a 247% increase in ad prices.

If you are a company without a mobile strategy, you better get moving.

Over a billion users, 1.12 billion users to be exact, use Facebook mobile each month which is up 250million since last year and 703 million use Facebook mobile each day, a 40% growth year over year. Mobile is 66% of ad revenue up from 49% during the same time last year. If these numbers about mobile don't move you, chances are your business could go the way of the Dodo bird.

Ruth J.Morrison

Not one to color inside the lines, Ruth J. Morrison is the CEO and Founder of What’s The 411 Networks, a celebrity-driven integrated media, marketing, and lifestyle events company. She provides marketing and public relations advice to corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, authors, and political candidates. Her company is credentialed to cover the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks, NY Giants, boxing, NBA, and NFL events. She is the author of an upcoming book focused on being an entrepreneur in the sports and entertainment industry. A video streaming pioneer, she developed and launched from conception the City of New York's multi-channel cable television network (NYC TV), which included licensing content for the network. Ms. Morrison is a former Communications Director and Legislative Advisor to a New York Member of the U.S. Congress. As the creator and executive producer of What’s The 411, an award-winning entertainment news and information television show, she became the first African-American independent television producer to distribute a weekly television show on a broadcast channel, WNYC-TV. She also licensed What’s The 411 to a broadcaster in South Africa. With the creation of What’s The 411Sports, she is now one of the very few women in the country to own a sports news media company. She was a public relations consultant for the largest football game held at Giants Stadium; the first African-American woman journalist to cover the New York Knicks as a beat reporter; and, for three years, she worked in Brasil as an entertainment and television licensing consultant for an American company.

Ms. Morrison was also the first Executive Director of the Brooklyn International Trade Development Center (BITDC), New York City’s first and only small business development center whose sole mission was to assist small businesses with selling their products and services to foreign markets. In this capacity, she partnered with the US Commercial Service and the International Trade Administration’s Western Hemisphere Unit. She signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency. She developed a partnership with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and helped to launch the Allied African Nations Chamber of Commerce. She was an active member of committees implementing the U.S. – Brasil Joint Action Plan, which is under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and the government of Brasil.

Under Ms. Morrison’s leadership, BITDC promoted and recruited companies to participate in business opportunity missions to many countries around the world, most notably Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Canary Islands, the UK, Brasil, and Haiti following the earthquake. She also created an Emerging Market Seminar Series.

Ms. Morrison earned a master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, completed her coursework towards a Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University and she was a Communications Fellow at the Annenberg Washington Program of Northwestern University. Ms. Morrison is a member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC, and the New York Association of Black Journalists. She has served on many non-profit boards and she has received numerous honors including awards from the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners at an event in London, and Nation to Nation Networking for her work in building bridges among cultures. Ms. Morrison is available to speak at events.

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