Latest news with #Metronet
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
T-Mobile ending DEI programs as it seeks US FCC approval for 2 deals
By David Shepardson Wireless carrier T-Mobile US said on Wednesday it is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, under pressure from the Trump administration as it seeks regulatory approval for two major deals. T-Mobile said in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr made public on Wednesday that the wireless company is ending its DEI-related policies "not just in name, but in substance." T-Mobile said it will no longer have any individual roles or teams focused on DEI, is removing any references to DEI on its websites and has removed references to DEI from its employee training materials. Carr said in a text message he was pleased with the changes. "This is another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and the public interest." T-Mobile is awaiting FCC approval to buy almost all of regional carrier United States Cellular's wireless operations including customers, stores and 30% of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. The FCC is also weighing a separate transaction in which T-Mobile would establish a joint venture with KKR to acquire internet service provider Metronet, which reaches more than 2 million homes and businesses in 17 states. T-Mobile plans at closing to invest about $4.9 billion to acquire a 50% equity stake in the joint venture and 100% of Metronet's residential fiber retail operations and customers. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, criticized T-Mobile's action saying "in yet another cynical bid to win FCC regulatory approval, T-Mobile is making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness, and amplifying underrepresented voices." The FCC in May approved Verizon Communications' $20 billion deal to acquire fiber-optic internet providers Frontier Communications after the largest U.S. telecom company agreed to end its DEI program and after the FCC opened an investigation. Carr, a Republican designated by Trump in January as chair, told Comcast in February he was opening a probe into the NBC News-parent company's promotion of DEI programs. In January, Trump issued sweeping executive orders to dismantle U.S. government DEI programs, and pressured the private sector to join the initiative.
The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
T-Mobile ending DEI programs as it seeks US FCC approval for 2 deals
FILE PHOTO: A T-Mobile logo is seen on the storefront door of a store in Manhattan, New York, U.S., April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo (Reuters) -Wireless carrier T-Mobile US said on Wednesday it is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, under pressure from the Trump administration as it seeks regulatory approval for two major deals. T-Mobile said in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr made public on Wednesday that the wireless company is ending its DEI-related policies "not just in name, but in substance." T-Mobile said it will no longer have any individual roles or teams focused on DEI, is removing any references to DEI on its websites and has removed references to DEI from its employee training materials. Carr said in a text message he was pleased with the changes. "This is another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and the public interest." T-Mobile is awaiting FCC approval to buy almost all of regional carrier United States Cellular's wireless operations including customers, stores and 30% of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. The FCC is also weighing a separate transaction in which T-Mobile would establish a joint venture with KKR to acquire internet service provider Metronet, which reaches more than 2 million homes and businesses in 17 states. T-Mobile plans at closing to invest about $4.9 billion to acquire a 50% equity stake in the joint venture and 100% of Metronet's residential fiber retail operations and customers. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, criticized T-Mobile's action saying "in yet another cynical bid to win FCC regulatory approval, T-Mobile is making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness, and amplifying underrepresented voices." The FCC in May approved Verizon Communications' $20 billion deal to acquire fiber-optic internet providers Frontier Communications after the largest U.S. telecom company agreed to end its DEI program and after the FCC opened an investigation. Carr, a Republican designated by Trump in January as chair, told Comcast in February he was opening a probe into the NBC News-parent company's promotion of DEI programs. In January, Trump issued sweeping executive orders to dismantle U.S. government DEI programs, and pressured the private sector to join the initiative. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)
Metro
7 days ago
- General
- Metro
'My instinct was just to help people - it changed my life'
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A woman who treated victims of the 7/7 bombings said she realised what her life's purpose was after an oxygen tank was thrust in her arms. Carolyn Williams was 25 at the time and working as an administrator for Metronet, the company responsible for maintaining the London Underground. She was sitting in an office next door to Edgware Road station, when the device was detonated on the Circle line. 'It was so loud it sounded like a trained had derailed,' she tells Metro. 'We looked outside the window and saw a mass of people coming out of the station. Then we got a message through from one of our colleagues telling us a bomb had gone off. 'It was an out-of-body experience, and I felt incredibly vulnerable. I buried it all quite deeply and not fully dealt with it emotionally yet.' Some of Carolyn's other colleagues arranged taxis to take them home and away from the scene, but she chose to stay, rounding up all the trained first aiders and walking into the thick of the crowd. Some of the others were terrified, but my instinct was just to help people,' she explains. The scene she witnessed was grim. The walking wounded clutched serious injuries and appeared disoriented as many had lost their hearing. In total, six people had lost their lives at the scene. 'The memory of seeing a woman hold a burns mask to her face is seared into my mind, which a photographer at the scene managed to capture,' Carolyn recalls. 'I remember thinking it was weird loads of people didn't have shoes on, but now I know the force of the blast knocked them off.' As chaos surrounded them, she and her colleagues helped reassure people, guiding them to points where they could receive proper medical attention. The scale of those injured was so great, even the emergency services began to rely on them for support. 'All of a sudden a fireman thrust an oxygen tank into my arms, and told me to administer it to someone laying on the ground, but I just didn't know how,' says Carolyn. 'It was at that point that I realised I never wanted to feel that vulnerable again.' Jenni Dunman, was just a trainee detective when she was ordered to Edgware Road where one of four bombs was detonated across the Underground and bus system 20 years ago today. She tells Metro: 'A crackle came through our radios that another bomb was expected to go off, and that was when I truly realised my life was in danger. 'But as a police officer you can't let fear wash over you – you have to be there for public and let your sense of duty take over.' With her team stationed just outside the station, Jenni was able to help the walking wounded and get those in shock to safety. This included giving first aid to a man, aged around in his 80s, who began displaying symptoms of a heart attack. 'I don't know what happened to him in the end. But I think about him every day,' she says. Jenni was also part of the team who raided the homes of suspects later that day. The four people identified as responsible for the attack were Mohammad Sidique Khan (30), Shehzad Tanweer (22), Germaine Lindsay (19) and Hasib Hussain (18). Thinking back to how the people of London coped on that that horrific day, Jenni recalls: ''Everyone was coming together and opening their arms and homes to complete strangers, from the wealthier residents to the homeless man at the end of the street. No one was on their own.' Watch Jenni's story here. The events of the day stayed with Carolyn, and she took a year out of work to consider her next steps. She toyed with the idea of becoming a police officer, until an advert to become a paramedic for the London Ambulance Service appeared in Metro. 'I felt really uncomfortable at the thought of coming back to the office after the attack, it had made me rethink my purpose. Seeing that ad in the paper was a sign.' Carolyn went onto train as a paramedic, with the day of the attack haunting Carolyn's 14 year career. Then, in June 2017, she suddenly found herself in an all too familiar and horrific situation. That evening a van deliberately drove into pedestrians before crashing into the Borough Market area and randomly stabbing people, killing eight and injuring 48 more. More Trending Although Carolyn and her crewmate were diverted to continue responding to incidents outside of the attack, hearing it on the radio 'took her right back to the London bombings'. 'But this time it was different. I felt very scared, but confident,' she remembers. 'I knew what I was doing, compared to all those years ago at the scene of the bombings. 'My crewmate and I just looked at each, took a deep breath, and nodded. We knew what we were doing, and this is what our training was for. 'I still feel anxious on the tube, but that anxiety no longer runs my life like I used to. I'm a fighter, not a flighter.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 'Pole hogging' is the latest Tube habit tormenting commuters on the London Underground MORE: Man arrested after Windrush exhibition vandalised in south London MORE: Paramedics 'triage overheating passengers' on stuck train in more chaos for Eurostar
West Australian
21-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Joe Spagnolo: Roger Cook moves on from Mark McGowan's Labor
It appears Roger Cook is going all out to ensure the public is aware there is a new sheriff in town, and that Mark McGowan is well and truly part of Labor history. The current Labor government, in terms of office and administrative personnel, has little resemblance to the one McGowan presided over. Cook has, for example, replaced his entire media team and appointed a new chief of staff since the March election. And there was further evidence of transformational Labor in Thursday's State Budget. Labor has finally stopped banging on about McGowan's Metronet, although project chief Rita Saffioti still resides over the remaining elements of the rail project — now eight years old — as Transport Minister and Treasurer. Instead Cook, keen to leave his own legacy, is embarking on what he and Saffioti call a 'poles, pipes, ports and wires' era, which will see billions spent on new infrastructure, enabling WA to hopefully begin a new era of diversification, and safeguarding itself against its reliance on iron ore exports and China's economy. If McGowan's catchcry was Metronet, Cook's and Saffioti's is diversification. From here on, Labor will begin its Budget sell to the public, and in doing so begin the sell of a re-elected Labor Government keen on reinventing itself and positioning itself for a fourth term of government by winning the 2029 State election. But reinvention comes with political risk. And we've seen that in this Budget, with Cook and Saffioti rolling the dice and deciding to shelve Labor's annual power bill credits — which, incidentally, McGowan commenced in 2020. Remember as a kid you would sit around a Christmas tree eagerly awaiting your presents? You either loved the gifts or were disappointed once you unwrapped the offerings. CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey loved what was under Saffioti's 'Christmas tree', citing Taylor Swift as he applauded big spends in ports, energy and water. 'A bit like Taylor Swift, the Government is shifting to a new era of infrastructure spend. We're moving from the Roads Era to the Industrial Era,' Morey said. But welfare groups are not singing Swifty songs today. In addition to power and water hikes of 2.5 per cent, car licence charges have gone up 3.9 per cent and driver's licence fees have gone up 2.9 per cent. These are not huge increases by any means. But the optics of these increases aren't great for a government that on Thursday announced a forecast $2.5 billion surplus for this financial year and a forecast $10 billion in surpluses through to 2028-29. 'We were disappointed not to see a total freeze on increases in fees and charges, particularly utilities, electricity and water, but also on transport licenses,' Anglicare WA Acting CEO & Director of Services Philippa Boldy said on Friday. 'By increasing fees and charges, people are getting further behind instead of getting an opportunity to move forward. If we take more money out of the pockets of people that are already struggling for the essentials they need to live, we're not being fair with WA's growth and the economic strength.' Sure: the Government has softened the blow by announcing other initiatives such as the capping of public transport fares to one zone, saving some families and estimated $625 a year. But getting rid of a measure that shaves about $400 a year from household power bills in the midst of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis is a big call. What Cook is banking on is that West Australians will accept that investing in the future of WA will reap big benefits for the adults of tomorrow and generations to come. This is a Budget for the future. And in that sense Cook and Saffioti need to be applauded for recognising the fact that the rivers of gold — courtesy of iron ore exports to China — may well dry up into the future. But more needs to be done to help WA's vulnerable who right now aren't singing Swifty tunes, but belting out 'Under Pressure' along with Davie Bowie and Freddie Mercury.
West Australian
19-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Paul Murray: State Budget surpluses haven't been planned, they're the result of a run of historic luck
Rita Saffioti would be praying for some good news after a week from hell. She's had to deal with the disclosure of massive cost increases in the Government's IT projects — the biggest one in her transport portfolio, which she oversees despite the obvious conflicts as Treasurer, and the news that her locally-assembled Metronet railcars are not fit for use, according to the unionists who drive them. So she'd also be hoping people think all the cash she doles out in this 'Made in WA' Budget will be better handled. And that no one mentions blowouts. When Saffioti got the job two years ago, the State's net debt was $28.3 billion. This Budget takes it to $42.5b by 2028-29 — a 50 per cent increase — while still predicting annual cash surpluses. Treasurers who can't control debt in times of unprecedentedly high revenues don't deserve applause. That's the bad news, Rita. Digging deep into the Budget papers it is apparent that much of this mounting debt is to fund the net zero emissions transition, although a single figure for the massive cost is elusive due to the scattered details of 'public non-financial corporations sector net debt' and multiple subsidies. Saffioti's speech drew parallels with other States' finances that are as nauseous as they are provocative for those planning to torch WA's special GST deal. 'WA's net debt as a percentage of Gross State Product is expected to be 9.1 per cent at the end of the budget year — compared to an average of over 20 per cent across the other states and the Commonwealth,' Saffioti said. She forgot to say it was 6.2 per cent when she became Treasurer and will be 9.5 next year. That's the measure of her profligacy. Other State governments would love her good fortune — other than basket-case Victoria — most would probably handle the revenue windfalls far more responsibly. 'This Budget reinforces the walls of fortress WA,' Saffioti said, channelling Mark McGowan. She will need a fortress to fight off the other State treasurers infuriated by her boasting. 'Our domestic economy has grown by almost 26 per cent over the past five years, well above the 16 per cent growth nationally.' But that's nothing more than a demonstration of her historic luck. Her surpluses are built on booming iron ore prices that will not be there when her over-spending makes our debt peak. Most people don't realise how much luck contributes to Saffioti's books. She now receives more than double the revenues enjoyed by the Barnett government in its last years thanks to inflated royalties and the generous GST deal. After last year's Metronet-affected blowout in spending by 10.6 per cent, this year's increase is lower at 4.3 per cent, before falling by 5.9 per cent in 26-27. Those businesses feeling the squeeze that government over-spending puts on the labour market are having quite a rollercoaster ride.
