Bill Shock NPRM Discounts Viability of Voluntary Industry Code
An FCC rulemaking notice defines wireless “bill shock” as sudden increases in a subscriber’s bill not caused by changes in a monthly service plan, and says bill shock is a “significant burden” for millions of Americans, said industry sources familiar with the NPRM, slated for a vote at the commission’s Oct. 14 meeting.
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There have been few lobbying meetings at the FCC over the last few weeks on bill shock, but numerous meetings have been scheduled over the next few days, before the release of the sunshine agenda Thursday, FCC officials said Tuesday. The NPRM is relatively short, running to a little more than 20 paragraphs, officials said.
The NPRM also tentatively concludes that voluntary industry efforts, such as the CTIA consumer code, lack full industry participation and are not enforceable, as an FCC order would be, officials said.
Wireless billing issues were raised over the weekend when the FCC Enforcement Bureau confirmed that Verizon Wireless was refunding millions of dollars to consumers who had been over billed for data usage (CD Oct 5 p5). Last week, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., introduced bill shock legislation that would force companies to warn consumers when they're about to exceed their monthly cellphone voice, text or data limits.
Various public interest groups are pushing the FCC to move forward on bill shock rules. “We support the FCC opening a rulemaking on bill shock, but we'll wait to see the language before passing judgment,” Free Press spokeswoman Jennifer Ettinger said Tuesday. “We wholeheartedly support Sen. Udall’s bill on the matter, and we plan to play an active role in ensuring consumers are protected from erroneous charges and excessive fees."
Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said his group plans to sign a letter endorsing bill shock rules. Public interest groups are expected to file at the FCC before sunshine restrictions kick in. “We are supportive, we just haven’t had a lot of resources to play,” he said.
"We're anxious to see the full details of the NPRM,” said David Butler, spokesman for Consumers Union. “We hear a lot of complaints about it from consumers, so we plan to be actively engaged in the issue through comment filings, meetings, and other activities.
Carriers are expected to mount a more aggressive campaign when the FCC takes up final rules, but have raised concerns about the notice. “It’s just an NPRM, so this is just one step in the process, but we're watching this closely,” said an attorney who represents wireless carriers. “The fact is carriers are already taking steps on their own” against bill shock.
Chris Guttman-McCabe, regulatory vice president at CTIA, said CTIA continues to make changes to its consumer code, making it a “living, breathing” document, and the FCC has the code as a requirement in some competitive eligible telecommunications carrier proceedings. Carriers continue to offer new service plans, such as U.S. Cellular’s Belief Project, which offers “One and Done” contracts without automatic renewal and incentives for customer loyalty, he said. “You're having carriers beginning to give different types of electronic notification and customers have tools to check all of their usage levels,” Guttman-McCabe said. “We want to make sure that you're not establishing rules that make this static and don’t allow it to change.”
Verizon Wireless representatives met with various FCC officials last week, according to an ex parte filing at the FCC. “We discussed the company’s position in the … proceeding and expressed concern regarding prescriptive rules in this area,” Verizon said. “We also described the variety of tools Verizon Wireless currently provides customers that allow them to access detailed information about their wireless usage.”
MetroPCS made a similar argument in a meeting with officials from the FCC Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau. “MetroPCS advocated that regulatory intervention should be reserved for situations where competitive market forces are not working to protect and benefit consumers,” the carrier said. “Here, the competitive market is working properly and consumers have their choice among a number of exciting wireless options."