Though surprisingly high and unanticipated cell phone charges on monthly invoices are commonplace today, wireless providers have chosen to listen to the advice of regulators and bring this practice to an end.
Major cell phone service providers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T have come to an agreement with American regulators that stated that customers will receive an alert when their monthly text, data, or voice limits are coming near.
The purpose of this action is to help customers to avoid sizeable extra charges that occur when they have used their services beyond their plan limits, leading to what advocates refer to as “bill shock”.
These companies are following voluntary industry guidelines which were created as a result of possible new government regulations. They will provide their customers with alerts when the plan limit has been exceeded and when they will be subject to charges at the overage rates.
Officials at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also stated that customers who are travelling outside the country will receive a warning if they will be charged the frequently expensive roaming charges.
These alerts will be sent to the customers free of charge, and will receive them automatically unless they specifically opt out of the program.
Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the FCC, said that he will be releasing all of the details of the guidelines during a news conference this week, alongside the wireless industry trade group CTIA’s head, as well as the head of the Consumers Union, an advocacy group which has been working toward this goal and will be helping with compliance monitoring.
