N.Y. CONGRESSMAN SEEKS FCC WIRELESS SERVICE QUALITY STANDARD
Rep. Weiner (D-N.Y.) said he soon would introduce legislation that would require the FCC to collect service quality data on and draft minimum quality standards for wireless communications industry. Standards would govern connection, reception and billing practices. Bill also would establish toll-free “#FCC” complaint hotline number and complaint mailing address that wireless carriers would be required to include in each subscriber’s bill and would require FCC every 6 months to submit report to Congress on complaints received.
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Weiner said consumers lacked access to complaint statistics on dropped calls, fast busy signals, dead spots, improper billing. “Simply put, we're using cellphones more but getting worse service,” he said at news conference in Washington Wed. “The FCC, which I believe has jurisdiction, has done very little.”
Weiner recently discussed wireless service quality issues separately with FCC Chmn. Powell and House Commerce Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.), neither of whom disputed existence of service problems, he said. However, he said Powell was concerned “whether his agency had the resources” to carry out provisions of bill. He said Upton was interested in identifying ways in which industry can correct its service problems. “I will walk away from this bill if the FCC shows even a whiff of interest in solving this problem,” Weiner said.
Commission staffer said Powell met with Weiner but they didn’t discuss specific legislation. Staffer said Powell hadn’t seen Weiner bill and wouldn’t comment further on proposal.
CTIA spokesman Travis Larsen said service problems existed, but govt. regulation wouldn’t be solution. “One of the biggest goals of the wireless industry is good consumer service,” he said. “Instead, we should be looking at why wireless service is lacking. Two of those areas are a lack of spectrum and restrictions on why, when and where wireless towers can be built.”
Wireless industry source said bill falsely assumed that carriers weren’t concerned about service quality. Bill would require reporting of problems but wouldn’t solve them, source said. He said similar Weiner bill last year didn’t draw significant support from Commerce committees or subcommittees, and predicted support this year would be equally uncertain.
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) and Consumers Union (CU) are supporting bill. Ed Mierzwinksi, U.S. PIRG’s consumer program dir., said at briefing that Weiner bill “would give cellphone consumers a bill of rights.” Gene Kimmelman, co- director of CU’s Washington office, said he “hopes to see the bill rapidly passed into law,” since it would provide a “side-by-side comparison” of complaint data. Weiner said such comparison would have positive impact on consumers as well as on industry, “since wireless providers that offer good service would reap the benefits of being able to advertise their high ratings.”