[ NNSquad ] Re: GAO: FCC must improve wireless industry oversight

[Barry Gold <BarryDGold@ca.rr.com>]

Lauren Weinstein wrote:
> GAO: FCC must improve wireless industry oversight
>
> http://bit.ly/5jsGiu  (AP)

Personally, I don't have a problem with early termination fees.  People 
should _read_ the contracts that they sign.  Perhaps mandating 
disclosure in big print, but I suspect it won't really change things. 
You can get a phone for $X without an early termination fee, or for $Y 
with one, and $Y < .5$X.

The other complaints strike me as legitimate, however, and the FCC 
and/or local regulators should be paying more attention to suspect 
billing practices and failure to respond to customer complaints -- 
especially when the promised service isn't being delivered but the 
customer is not allowed to cancel the contract.

  [ There are a number of balls in play.  In the early days of
    cellular service (if I recall correctly without digging around
    for references) California law was interpreted to forbid cell
    companies from using contracts to subsidize phones.  The result
    was that the costs of cell phones in California were generally
    much higher than in states where subsidies were permitted,
    causing a restraining effect on the uptake of cell service.  When
    that law in California was changed allowing typical contracts
    with subsidies, cell phones dropped to subsidized prices, and
    uptake exploded.

    T-Mobile is now de-emphasizing contracts and is promoting
    non-contract (month-to-month) plans, with non-subsidized cell
    phones available on a long-term installment plan. A complexity is
    comparing the actual dollars spent over the lifetime of a
    contract vs. the time it takes to pay off a phone that you might
    not want to keep for more than a year or two.
    
    The much discussed carrier-unlocked "Google Phone" (whether
    actually a "Nexus One" or not) might be a game changer,
    especially if Google can sell it directly to consumers (or
    through a partner, with T-Mobile reportedly already on board) at
    a price point similar to that of a subsidized (contract) phone,
    but without the need for a contract.  Does Google plan to
    actually do this?  Presumably the folks in Googleplex Building 43
    may already know for sure.  Or maybe in 42.

    -- Lauren Weinstein
       NNSquad Moderator ]