Andre Yoskowitz
26 May 2010 23:43
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released a study this week which shows that 30 million Americans have experienced "bill shock" after seeing their monthly mobile phone bill.
"Bill shock" means seeing an unexpected increase in the bill, even if the subscriber has not changed their plan.
3000 people were surveyed by Princeton Survey Research Associates for the FCC, and 2400 had mobile phones. Of those 2400, 17 percent said at least one time in the last year the experienced "bill shock."
The FCC says 17 percent of all mobile phone users in the U.S. adds up to 30 million Americans that have experienced the unexpected increase in their bill.
84 percent of those that had experienced the increase say their carrier did not warn them at all that they were on the verge of exceeding some portion of their plan, be it minutes, texts, or data bandwidth. 35 percent said their bill increased by $50, while 23 percent said the fee was $100 or higher.
The results are part of the FCC's ongoing investigation into "bill shock."
The CTIA, which represents the wireless industry says the real "bill shock" is the excessive taxes and levies that come as part of every bill.
"If the FCC is interested in controlling 'shock' on consumer bills, they should address the most egregious part of consumers' bills, which is the almost 16 percent rate of taxes and fees imposed by federal, state and local governments on wireless consumers," says CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent.