Senators argue for a more transparent wireless industry

consumer-friendly bill making its rounds in Congress. Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and West Virginia senator Jay Rockefeller have been working hard to force wireless carriers to more fully disclose what’s on their customers’ bills. We truly appreciate this, as there are many unfair practices in the wireless industry. The insiders may argue that these practices foster competition, but there’s no proof of that. Plus, what are they going to say? “Yes, we’re being unfair. Let’s change these policies and lose money.” Of course they won’t. If they did that, they’d actually have to think of new ways to make money.

“I believe you can have a competitive industry when people have full knowledge and are able to make decisions based on price comparisons … or the service-quality comparisons,” Klobuchar said. “It’s very difficult for my middle-class people in Minnesota, who don’t have a lot of disposable income, to make their decisions if they don’t have full information.”

See, that’s not so bad, is it? It’s not like Klobuchar is asking for a lot. She’s asking wireless companies to disclose the full cost and scope of their services so that consumers can make more informed decisions. Of course, the corporate representatives, including Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon Wireless, pulled out their same old talking points. Blah blah blah, contracts allow phone subsidies, blah blah blah, there’s enough competition, blah blah blah, you’ll set the industry backwards. Yeah, handsets are expensive. They’re turning into mini computers, and yeah, technology like that costs money. And we do appreciate subsidies, since it makes it easier on the wallet to incur a loss — cell phones do, after all, travel with us everywhere, and thus are far more apt to break than our computers. However, there has to be a better way to deliver cheaper phones than forcing us into a company-friendly contract. We’d love to see the markup at each level of resell. (Yes, we’re sure rabid consumers don’t do much to help this cause; a lot of Verizon’s contract centers around the fear of lawsuit.)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said the rules written for wireless carriers almost two decades ago are outdated and “consumers often feel like their wireless providers have the upper hand and consumers enter into restrictive contracts without full information.”

Once again, a well reasoned argument by Ms. Klobuchar. There’s this thing called progress. It’s what happens every day of our lives. The wireless industry has progressed remarkably, even in the past year. So why are we still being governed by regulations drafted before wireless was widespread? We’re not saying we should go with a Radiohead-esque system of “pay what you feel like,” but there are certain aspects of this industry that clearly disfavor the consumer. Tweaks like these are what we ask.

Republicans, however, said Democrats were overreacting and overreaching. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) called Rockefeller’s and Klobuchar’s legislation well-intended, but naïve. “[The bill] is likely to set back the wireless industry by many years,” DeMint said. “We need to take a step back and let the wireless industry fix whatever problems there are.”

Sorry, Jim, but you’re naive if you think that this problem is just going to fix itself. Really, does anything fix itself? No. We always need someone to step in and get the ball rolling. So please, Mr. DeMint, back the eff off. Look into history. Learn that things like this do not work themselves out. Of course, Verizon refers to its prorated early termination fees, and AT&T’s recent piggybacking, as evidence. Okay, so you’ve got one aspect of it down. But there are still plenty of issues floating around out there. You’ve got to start taking care of them before you can pat yourself on the back and say “it’s working.” Of course, Klobuchar came back with another finely reasoned point, though it probably fell on deaf ears once again.

Klobuchar noted, “AT&T and Verizon comprise only about 55 percent of the market, meaning the other 45 percent or so of subscribers—or over 100 million Americans—may still be subject to these fees.”

Hey, we don’t mind taking the heat off the Big Two for a little bit if it helps create a more level playing field. But eventually those guys are going to have to answer to a number of other practices that hinder consumers and benefit them, the companies. We just hope that these questions are asked and answered, and that resolutions are made. The first step, actually, could be this T-Mobile lawsuit… [eWeek] [Macworld]]]>