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Telecommunications equipment industry

FCC Adopts Stiffer Rules to Protect Callers from Surprise Phone Bills

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Federal regulators have taken steps to prevent unexpected high charges for long-distance calls made from public phones, hotels, and other pay phones. The new rules require companies that provide service to these phones to disclose price information to callers before connecting the call. This change aims to protect consumers from unknowingly incurring high rates, as evidenced by thousands of complaints filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the last two years.

Key Takeaways:

  • The FCC adopted stiffer rules to protect callers from unknowingly being charged high rates for long-distance calls made from public phones.
  • The new rules require companies that provide service to pay phones, hotel phones, and other public phones to disclose price information to callers before calls are connected.
  • The rules do not change what companies charge for such service, but the commission believes the disclosure requirement will eventually pressure companies with high rates to lower them.
  • Hundreds of companies are responsible for providing service to pay phones, including AT&T, MCI, and Sprint.
  • Smaller companies serve hundreds of thousands of phones.
  • The new rules require companies to provide per-minute charges and any surcharges after callers dial a long-distance number and press specific keys (pound or star key) or stay on the line.
  • Callers can bypass the message and avoid incurring any charges without getting price information.
  • The new rules take effect July 1, allowing companies to pass along increased costs resulting from complying with the FCC's plan to their customers.

Statistics:

  • Thousand of complaints were filed with the FCC in the last two years regarding long-distance calls made from public phones.
  • The new rules will require companies to disclose price information to callers before connecting the call.
  • The disclosure requirement is expected to put pressure on companies with high rates to lower them.
  • Hawaii has the highest per-minute charge, at $19.21.
  • The FCC's plan is expected to cost companies more, which may be passed on to consumers.
  • The new rules take effect on July 1.

Sources:

  • [Source: "FCC to Require Disclosure of Payphone Rates," by Jeannine Aversa, The Associated Press, (no date or timestamp provided)]

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