WASHINGTON - Users of cell phones and other wireless devices that are close to their monthly limit for voice, data, text or receive alerts when they are in danger of being charged extra, according to an agreement between carriers and the Federal Communications Commission.
The agreement, to be announced Monday, brings together industry and a regulator who fought hard this year on attempts by the FCC providers to police the Internet and the board of review mergers of wireless carriers . The agreement will begin in a year.
Wireless companies are generally opposed recent efforts by the Commission to dictate the way they communicate with customers. But carriers have also lost the goodwill of people bitter about the sometimes exorbitant costs resulting from the exploitation of what has become a staple of consumers - the mobile phone.
Tens of millions of users of wireless phones are hit with overage charges each year, the FCC estimates, based on its own studies and work by the Government Accountability Office and private research firms. The new agreement is binding on all members of the industry's largest trade, and thus covers almost all over the country 300 million wireless accounts, according to the FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski.
President Obama, Mr. Genachowski and Steve Largent, president of CTIA - The Wireless Association, the trade group that negotiated for carriers, welcomed the agreement. Mr. Largent, a former congressman and NFL player, said that the agreement fulfills a commitment the government, without imposing burdensome regulations.
President Obama said in a statement, said: "I appreciate the willingness of mobile phone companies" to work with my administration and join us in our global efforts and continuing to protect American consumers by ensuring that financial transactions are fair, honest and transparent. "
For 18 months, the F.C.C. investigated the shock of what he calls the bill, what consumers experience when they receive their monthly bills to find wireless unforeseen costs hundreds or thousands of dollars for roaming or overuse of voice and data. In October, he proposed a settlement that will now be delayed while the committee monitors compliance with voluntary industry.
Most contracts call for a client without paying a monthly fee for a fixed number of minutes of talk time. Some plans include a number of text messages, and other, mostly for smartphones, tablets like the iPad, or laptop cards in the air, including a certain amount of data on the Use of each month.
A customer exceeding these limits will begin to pay fees that are often much more expensive on a unit basis than under the monthly allowances. While many carriers offer several ways for consumers to check their use, these hit by large bills were usually not regularly.
Educate consumers to limit data is particularly relevant with the explosive growth of tablets iPad and others, which can consume huge amounts of data downloading music and books and movies streaming. The F.C.C. said that the popularity of tablets and growth guidance in the use of data is to contribute to the overcrowding of the airwaves, with companies without finding that they can not possibly be able to meet the demand for download .
A 2010 study by the F. C.C. found that one in six mobile users have experienced the shock of the bill, with 23 percent of these users face unexpected charges of $ 100 or more. A F.C.C. separate report noted that 20 percent of complaints shock of the bill he received during the first half of 2010 were $ 1,000 or more in excess cost. Expensive costs can also be hired for roaming, when a user moves out of the defined area of a roofing company or, as often happens, when traveling abroad.
Even so-called unlimited data plans often have a cap limit downloads per month for a number of megabytes - a technological measure that, unlike a number of calls or minutes, can not easily be followed by the uninitiated. Last October, the F.C.C. highlighted the case of a pensioner of 66, in Dover, Massachusetts, which received a $ 18 000 bill after a promotion unlimited data plan expired without warning.
Alexander Cullison discovered the hard way what can happen when a family member is not aware of the limitations of the use and accounting. Mr. Cullison, retired resident of Fairfax, Virginia, received a $ 400 bill one month recently after his son, whose plan had a monthly limit of 250 text messages sent and received about 2000 in a billing period. It was then that Mr. Cullison learned that his company counted every wireless message sent and received as separate items, forcing them to build at least two times faster than expected.
"It's a good resolution," Mr. Cullison said, "so long as they inform you that you exceed your limit before it actually happens." Under the agreement, carriers must provide alerts when consumers approach and exceed their limits on voice, data or send SMS. In addition, users will receive an alert when their ties to a cell phone in a foreign country. Some carriers are already offering similar alerts.
Companies have the ability to send alerts via SMS or voice, but they must be free and automatic. Consumers can remove from service if they wish. At least two of the four types of alerts must be started by the carriers within 12 months, and all alerts should begin within 18 months.
The companies also agreed to publicize tools for consumers to monitor their own use. The F.C.C. partnered with the Consumers Union, non-profit to monitor corporate compliance.
"Consumers have told us about" surprises "for a long time, and we pushed for reforms to take action against the problem," said Parul P. Desai, political adviser to Consumers Union. " Finally, we want to help people protect their portfolio, so we applaud the FCC and industry to this effort to do right by consumers. "
The agreement, to be announced Monday, brings together industry and a regulator who fought hard this year on attempts by the FCC providers to police the Internet and the board of review mergers of wireless carriers . The agreement will begin in a year.
Wireless companies are generally opposed recent efforts by the Commission to dictate the way they communicate with customers. But carriers have also lost the goodwill of people bitter about the sometimes exorbitant costs resulting from the exploitation of what has become a staple of consumers - the mobile phone.
Tens of millions of users of wireless phones are hit with overage charges each year, the FCC estimates, based on its own studies and work by the Government Accountability Office and private research firms. The new agreement is binding on all members of the industry's largest trade, and thus covers almost all over the country 300 million wireless accounts, according to the FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski.
President Obama, Mr. Genachowski and Steve Largent, president of CTIA - The Wireless Association, the trade group that negotiated for carriers, welcomed the agreement. Mr. Largent, a former congressman and NFL player, said that the agreement fulfills a commitment the government, without imposing burdensome regulations.
President Obama said in a statement, said: "I appreciate the willingness of mobile phone companies" to work with my administration and join us in our global efforts and continuing to protect American consumers by ensuring that financial transactions are fair, honest and transparent. "
For 18 months, the F.C.C. investigated the shock of what he calls the bill, what consumers experience when they receive their monthly bills to find wireless unforeseen costs hundreds or thousands of dollars for roaming or overuse of voice and data. In October, he proposed a settlement that will now be delayed while the committee monitors compliance with voluntary industry.
Most contracts call for a client without paying a monthly fee for a fixed number of minutes of talk time. Some plans include a number of text messages, and other, mostly for smartphones, tablets like the iPad, or laptop cards in the air, including a certain amount of data on the Use of each month.
A customer exceeding these limits will begin to pay fees that are often much more expensive on a unit basis than under the monthly allowances. While many carriers offer several ways for consumers to check their use, these hit by large bills were usually not regularly.
Educate consumers to limit data is particularly relevant with the explosive growth of tablets iPad and others, which can consume huge amounts of data downloading music and books and movies streaming. The F.C.C. said that the popularity of tablets and growth guidance in the use of data is to contribute to the overcrowding of the airwaves, with companies without finding that they can not possibly be able to meet the demand for download .
A 2010 study by the F. C.C. found that one in six mobile users have experienced the shock of the bill, with 23 percent of these users face unexpected charges of $ 100 or more. A F.C.C. separate report noted that 20 percent of complaints shock of the bill he received during the first half of 2010 were $ 1,000 or more in excess cost. Expensive costs can also be hired for roaming, when a user moves out of the defined area of a roofing company or, as often happens, when traveling abroad.
Even so-called unlimited data plans often have a cap limit downloads per month for a number of megabytes - a technological measure that, unlike a number of calls or minutes, can not easily be followed by the uninitiated. Last October, the F.C.C. highlighted the case of a pensioner of 66, in Dover, Massachusetts, which received a $ 18 000 bill after a promotion unlimited data plan expired without warning.
Alexander Cullison discovered the hard way what can happen when a family member is not aware of the limitations of the use and accounting. Mr. Cullison, retired resident of Fairfax, Virginia, received a $ 400 bill one month recently after his son, whose plan had a monthly limit of 250 text messages sent and received about 2000 in a billing period. It was then that Mr. Cullison learned that his company counted every wireless message sent and received as separate items, forcing them to build at least two times faster than expected.
"It's a good resolution," Mr. Cullison said, "so long as they inform you that you exceed your limit before it actually happens." Under the agreement, carriers must provide alerts when consumers approach and exceed their limits on voice, data or send SMS. In addition, users will receive an alert when their ties to a cell phone in a foreign country. Some carriers are already offering similar alerts.
Companies have the ability to send alerts via SMS or voice, but they must be free and automatic. Consumers can remove from service if they wish. At least two of the four types of alerts must be started by the carriers within 12 months, and all alerts should begin within 18 months.
The companies also agreed to publicize tools for consumers to monitor their own use. The F.C.C. partnered with the Consumers Union, non-profit to monitor corporate compliance.
"Consumers have told us about" surprises "for a long time, and we pushed for reforms to take action against the problem," said Parul P. Desai, political adviser to Consumers Union. " Finally, we want to help people protect their portfolio, so we applaud the FCC and industry to this effort to do right by consumers. "
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