California orders Uber to pay a $7.3 million fine

Uber can’t leave its troubles at the door, so to speak, not when it’s facing an issue in its own home. The California Public Utilities Commission has slapped the ride-sharing company with a $7.3 million fine and ordered its suspension in the state, after it failed to comply with the agency’s reporting requirements. When the state legalized Uber and similar services back in 2013, one of its conditions is the submission of detailed reports to make sure drivers accept passengers regardless of their conditions or locations. Unfortunately, Uber turned in incomplete data for 2014 and has been refusing to show CPUC the information it requires for the past few months.

The missing figures include the number of passengers who requested vehicles that can accommodate wheelchairs or animals and the number of times those requests were granted. Uber also failed to submit a list of ride requests based on ZIP codes and how many of those were fulfilled, as well as info on drivers who committed violations.

Company spokesperson Eva Behrend told LA Times that they will launch an appeal, and the court’s decision after that process (which can take months) will determine whether Uber really has to pay up and go through temporary suspension. “Uber has already provided substantial amounts of data to the California Public Utilities Commission, information we have provided elsewhere with no complaints,” she said, adding that “[g]oing further risks compromising the privacy of individual riders as well as driver-partners.”

While Uber’s existence in its home state is in jeopardy, it’s making headway in Mexico City, where the local government has published a legal framework for ride-sharing services. Still, Uber didn’t get everything it wanted: Mexico City has decided that all vehicles used for ride-sharing should cost at least 200,000 pesos ($12,660). Just last week, the company announced that driver-partners in the region would only need to spend 150,000 pesos ($9,500) in all to get started.

[Image credit: afagen/Flickr]

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: LA Times, AP, SFist, Reuters

Source: CPUC, Uber

Europe’s investigating Qualcomm’s mobile chip dominance

While Qualcomm enjoys a healthy hold over the mobile chip industry, regulators are wondering whether the US company has achieved its dominance in a fair manner. The company has already paid $975 million to escape an investigation into its monopolistic practises in China, but now the European Commission (EC) is on its case, today announcing it has opened two antitrust probes into the company.

According to the EC, one investigation will ask if the company offered “financial incentives” to order its wireless chipsets. The second will focus on whether Qualcomm sold its 3G chips well below cost price so competitors couldn’t get close to matching it.

“We were informed that the European Commission has taken the procedural step of “initiating proceedings” against Qualcomm with regard to the two ongoing investigations into Qualcomm’s sale of chipsets for mobile devices,” says a Qualcomm spokesperson. “This step allows investigators to gather additional facts, but it represents neither an expression by the Commission on the merits of the case nor an accusation against the Company. While we were disappointed to hear this, we have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the Commission, and we continue to believe that any concerns are without merit.”

Today’s announcement is the Commission’s latest investigation into how tech companies operate in Europe. Apple and Amazon have both been accused of negotiating favorable tax deals with Ireland and Luxembourg, respectively. While Qualcomm will be forced to comply with the regulator, antitrust probes can take years. If the chip maker is found guilty, it could face fines of up to 10 percent of yearly revenue and be forced to amend the way it conducts business across the continent.

[Image credit: Nathan Rupert, Flickr]

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: Europa

Ofcom invites suggestions on how to handle BT and Openreach

When Ofcom announced its “Strategic Review of Digital Communications,” the last of which forced BT to create Openreach, Sky and TalkTalk immediately came forward calling for both businesses to be split up once and for all. Today, the regulator has published a discussion document for the review which details the different approaches now under consideration. Nothing has been left off the table, it seems — they include keeping the current model, strengthening the controls that keep BT and Openreach’s relationship in check, substantial market deregulation and, finally, complete separation.

Discussing the last option, Ofcom said: “This has the potential to deliver benefits, since it would address BT’s underlying incentive to discriminate against competitors, and enable a simplified regulatory framework. Ofcom is now calling for feedback from businesses, public bodies and policy makers about the options and how they would affect the UK.

Sky, unsurprisingly, is supporting Ofcom’s decision to scrutinise the BT-Openreach situation: “It is welcome news that Ofcom is putting the future of Openreach at the centre of its review,” Mai Fyfield, Sky’s Chief Strategy Officer said. “For too long, consumers and businesses have been suffering because the existing structure does not deliver the innovation, competition and quality of service that they need.” Sky has already been calling for Ofcom to upgrade the case to a “market investigation reference” with the Competition and Markets Authority, which could, depending on the outcome, also lead to a forced separation of BT and Openreach. Ofcom hasn’t indicated that it’ll do this, however, so we’ll just have to wait for the review’s findings to be published at the end of the year.

[Image Credit: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Ofcom