The phenomenon called “bill shock,” where individuals unexpectedly discover out their cell phone bill is hugely inflated, has infuriated millions of people. CTIA, the trade group for cellular companies, has made an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to start supplying individuals more advanced notice. Article resource: Cell phone carriers and FCC reach agreement over bill shock

Cellular phone bills got attention from Feds

The Federal Communications Commission decided to start investigating "bill shock," last year. This was because there are a lot of consumers that get massive bills but don’t realize it until later. The FCC has an opinion about this. It thinks that custom-ers should be getting warnings.

One in six cell phone users would get bill shock eventually as shown in an FCC study, as reported by Daily Finance. The bill was over $100 for many. This was the case for 23 percent.

Sixty seven percent of those that filed bill shock grievances with the Federal Communications Commission got a bill over $100 while 20 percent of complains had bills over $1,000, ArsTechnica explained.

Among the most egregious bills was an elderly woman in Massachusetts who received a bill for $18,000, according to Daily Finance, and another per-son got a cellular phone bill for $68,505.

Carriers have a say

The Los Angeles Times reports that an agreement was made with the Federal Communications Commission and the CTIA. They decided that consumers will be notified if they are going to get a large bill before it takes place.

If a consumer is getting close to exceeding any monthly coverage, they will get a voice or text messaging alert in the next year. Consumers can opt out of the service that will be offered for free, Daily Finance reports.

The agreement was considered an ex-cellent example of how the government can work with businesses to get to agreements without regulation, according to CTIA President who used to play for the Seattle Seahawks, Steve Largent. Before the agreement, the Federal Communications Commission was working on it. It was trying to make bill shock obsolete too.

All CTIA members must notify

The Wireless Consumer Usage Notification Guidelines were amended to the code of ethics for the CTIA on its site. That means all members of the organization have to notify customers before they go over their limit.

Corporations such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint are in the CTIA. This involves 90 percent of all mobile phone users in the country. Smaller companies such as US Cellular and Clearwire also agreed to the brand new guidelines.

Several consumers say “bill shock” is common, although CTIA disagrees. The FCC learned that 84 percent of “bill shocked” consumers had no idea it was coming while 88 percent didn’t even get statements when they went over from their companies, as reported by CNN. Sixty percent of Consumers Union poll respondents liked the “bill shock” regulation, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Citations

Daily Finance

Ars Technica

Los Angeles Times

CNN