The Federal Communications Commission released regulation proposals last Thursday in hopes of preventing customer bill shock.
Bill shock is a sudden, unexpected increase in a consumer's cell phone bill.
According to an FCC news release, an April-May FCC survey indicated that 30 million Americans have experienced bill shock, meaning this issue has affected approximately one in six people.
At the Oct. 14 FCC meeting, the commission drafted several rules that should help decrease consumer bill shock.
"Big companies will need to send out alerts for when (customers) are going over, whether that be going over in minutes, texts or roaming," said Rosemary Kimball, director of media relations for the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the FCC.
The news release also stated the FCC's proposed rules would require companies to change their policies to a more transparent style of operation.
"If these regulations get passed, local stores may have to make contracts easier to read," Kimball said.
One of the main concerns is customers don't always know what they're signing up for, which can lead to unwanted overage charges, Kimball said.
Customers have also complained about the lack of uniformity of information distribution among cell phone companies.
"The rules proposed are in the process of being published in the Federal Registry," Kimball said.
The results should be published sometime this week, Kimball said.
"Once they're published, we accept consumer and business comments about (the rules) for 30 days," Kimball said. "When that time frame is over, an additional 30 days will be spent collecting reply comments on the initial comments that were given."
The FCC has requested feedback from consumers and companies on whether smaller providers and prepaid services should be exempt from these proposals or should be allotted extra time to set these regulations in place.
The regulations must be discussed and revised by the FCC before any can be put in place.
Sixty days after the proposals have been published, they will go into deliberation within the FCC, which could take several months, Kimball said.
Currently, some cell phone providers are already offering notifications when customers approach the limit on their plans.
"With our annual contract plan, it gives text notifications when you're about to go over your allotted minutes or texts," said Matthew Keeble, Auburn T-Mobile sales associate. "Also, with the family allowance plan, you can control how many minutes each number on the account can use. Text notifications are also sent when you're about to go over your minutes."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
