The pervasive problem of "bill shock" may soon peter out in the U.S. wireless industry thanks to a series of alerts that Americans will receive over the next 18 months when they are about to incur overage charges. But Consumer Cellular, the exclusive cell-phone provider for AARP members, said it has been offering a complimentary service since April 2010 that notifies customers before they exceed their monthly voice or data allotment.
Portland, Ore.-based Consumer Cellular claims its customers have saved more than $9 million since April 2010 as more than 55 percent of its subscribers have received the usage alerts.
Such alerts will soon become more common in the U.S. wireless industry, which has agreed to send free alerts before and after customers reach a monthly limit on voice, data and text. Wireless providers also have agreed to alert customers when they are about to incur international roaming charges that aren’t covered by their monthly plans and clearly disclose any tools they offer to let customers monitor and/or set limits on voice, messaging and data usage.
“This gesture from the other carriers is long overdue, although it doesn’t go far enough and, for many consumers, won’t be soon enough," Consumer Cellular CEO John Marick said in a statement. “More and more wireless customers are fed up with surprise changes and uncertainty surrounding how they can use their cellphones and plans."
Under a consumer code enacted by CTIA-The Wireless Association and followed by companies representing about 97 percent of all U.S. wireless customers, wireless providers have agreed to provide two of the alerts by Oct. 17, 2012. Customers don’t have to sign up to receive the alerts but they may opt out of the notifications. CTIA spokeswoman Amy Storey said it’s up to the individual wireless providers to determine which alerts to provide by the deadline above. The wireless industry must provide all of the alerts by April 17, 2013.
CTIA’s Consumer Code for Wireless Service is a series of principles and guidelines that wireless providers have agreed to follow. The usage alerts will reflect the 11th guideline in the code. Since the code was enacted in 2003, CTIA has never received a complaint from a consumer, Storey said.
National Carriers Already Offer Some Alerts
National wireless providers like Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel point out that they already send certain alerts. For example, Verizon Wireless gives customers international roaming notices and alerts them when they are about to exceed their data allotment, according to company spokesman Ed McFadden. Although the nation’s largest wireless operator doesn’t offer voice or text alerts, “we are moving aggressively to put those in place as well," McFadden said.
