Progress: Senators propose wireless consumer protection bill

The first thing the bill proposes is to hand the FCC the job of “enforcer of wireless protection guidelines.” This includes the creation of a report that discusses the practice of locking phones and its effect on the industry. If the FCC balks at this, Senators, we’d be glad to take on the project. Under fire are billing practices of wireless carriers. With taxes and fees filling wireless bills every month, we agree that some kind of regulations need to be in place, so companies don’t just charge you for whatever they feel like.

“Anyone who looks at a cellphone bill knows it’s a hodge-podge of fees and surcharges that supposedly covers regulatory or administrative costs. The reality is, often these are nothing more than operating costs that companies are passing on to the consumer disguised as fees and taxes,” said Rockefeller. “It’s high time to protect cellphone users from these deceptive billing practices.”

Our favorite part is that early termination fees would be far less under the act. Right on! There are plenty of things we hate about two-year contracts, but the worst of all is the early termination fee, which precludes us from leaving an unsatisfactory provider. Just think about it for a second. Company A gets you under a contract, which you have to pay $175 to leave. Few people would do this, so now they can charge you whatever they feel and give you poor customer service, because even if you do leave, they’ll have their $175 in hand. It’s just ridiculous. Clearly, wireless industry advocates scorn this plan, using the age-old line that it will make wireless service more costly. That really makes our blood boil. It’s an implicit threat: do this and we’ll up the cost of service. After all, how else are wireless companies going to make up for the fees they charge you every month, which would be banned under this bill?

“It is disappointing and unfortunate that Sens. Klobuchar and Rockefeller intend to introduce legislation based on incomplete and misleading data. The truth is that complaints about wireless service to the FCC are infrequent and declining,” said Steve Largent, president of cellphone association CTIA. “The most recently published FCC data, which was absent from the senators’ announcement, clearly shows that contract-related complaints, as well as overall wireless complaints, are falling.”

Absent from Mr. Largent’s address is that prepaid wireless has claimed defectors, so that could aid in the lessening of contract complaints. Of course, Mr. Largent has no intention of even acknowledging prepaid. All of this highlights exactly why we’re prepaid advocates. It puts the consumer in a better position of power. And although customer service may be poor in the industry, that’s an area that’s easy to improve. It just takes an investment. And if we see a rise in prepaid subscriptions, we’re sure a few companies will make sure their subscribers are treated fairly. [RCR Wireless News] via [mocoNews.net]]]>