Digital Inclusion

Equity on the Line: Telecom’s DEI Dilemma

FCC ends DEI priorities after Trump’s executive order, leaving telecom’s equity mandates in limbo.

Jericho Casper

Jan 28, 2025 — 3 min read

Top left to bottom right: Deborah Lathen, president of Lathen Consulting; Maurita Coley Flippin, principal for MCF Global; Brent Wilkes, SVP of institutional development for the Hispanic Federation; and, Clint Odom, VP of strategic alliances and external affairs for T-Mobile.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2025 – Advocates for racial diversity and equity in the telecommunications industry expressed shock and confusion about how to reconcile recent Trump administration orders with longstanding practice and law.

Diversity, equity and inclusion were not just goals, but legal mandates for the telecommunications industry, experts said during a Federal Communications Bar Association session Tuesday.

The Trump White House issued an executive order on January 20 to eliminate DEI programs across federal agencies. This Inauguration Day directive, calling DEI efforts "illegal and immoral discrimination programs," came after major tech companies Meta, Amazon, and Apple had already scaled back DEI initiatives.

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Digital Inclusion FCC DEI Donald Trump White House Meta Amazon Apple FCBA Communications Act of 1934 Telecommunications Act of 1996 Clint Odom T-Mobile iija Brendan Carr Eighth Circuit 2022 Equity Action Plan Communications Equity and Diversity Council Deborah Lathen Cable Services Bureau EEO minority tax certification Michael Powell