FCC Mulling 'Bill Shock' Warning System
May 11, 2010, 9:48 AM by Eric M. Zeman
A new initiative submitted by Joel Gurin, chief of the Federal Communication Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, would help create a warning system for consumers when their cell phone bills surpass a certain amount. The "Bill Shock" initiative would force wireless network carriers to send a warning of some sort (probably via SMS) to subscribers whose bills are running unusually high due to data or other charges so the consumers can curtail use to avoid a large monthly bill. The initiative comes after hundreds of consumers have complained about receiving surprise large bills that are hundreds of dollars more than their normal bill. "We're issuing a Public Notice to see if there's any reason that American carriers can’t use similar automatic alerts [as carriers in Europe are required to do] to inform consumers when they are at risk of running up a high bill. This is an avoidable problem. Avoiding bill shock is good for consumers and ultimately good business for wireless carriers as well," said Gurin.
more info at New York Times »
more info at FCC »
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