Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless Industry to Unveil Consumer Code

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 16:05:35 -0400

Wireless Industry to Unveil Consumer Code

Wireless carriers in the United States are set to unveil Tuesday a voluntary
Consumer Code in response to recent calls for increased regulation. The Cellular
Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) will announce the guidelines that
include a 14-day trial period in which customers can cancel service without a
penalty, increased disclosure in advertising and more. The unveiling comes a week
before the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) votes on broader consumer
rights regulations for the wireless industry. The PUC says the guidelines are a
signal of good intentions from wireless carriers, but notes the lack of
enforcement. CTIA believes however, that increased customer information and
customer service will result from the new self-imposed Consumer Code, but without
the cost and hassle associated with regulations.
===================================================================================

Saturday, September 6, 2003

Wireless carriers draft a rights code for customers
By SCOTT LANMAN
BLOOMBERG NEWS

U.S. wireless-telephone companies including Verizon Wireless Services Inc.  and
Cingular Wireless LLC said yesterday that they will announce voluntary
customer-rights standards for the industry in advance of plans by regulators to
impose such rules.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, an industry trade group
that represents the wireless companies, will unveil its guidelines in Washington
on Tuesday. Carriers that adopt the 10 rules will have to include more disclosure
in advertising and allow customers a 14-day trial period to cancel new service,
said Kimberly Kuo, a spokeswoman for the group.

The association's move will come a week before a scheduled vote by the California
Public Utilities Commission on more extensive customer-rights regulations for the
telecommunications industry.

The number of U.S. wireless-phone users has more than doubled since 1998 to about
150 million as more consumers abandon land-based lines.  Complaints about wireless
carriers to federal regulators rose 38 percent to 4,119 in the first quarter from
the prior year. The complaints, and widespread service outages during the August
Northeast blackout, have led to calls for increased regulation of wireless
carriers.

"The most generous thing I can say is that it's OK," Carl Wood, a member of the
California PUC, said of the trade group's standards in an interview. The
guidelines "are at best a statement of good intentions, and there is no
enforcement behind it. This is not comparable to regulations."

The association will let carriers who comply with the voluntary guidelines use a
"quality seal" in their advertising, Kuo said. "This is a way to increase customer
information and customer service without the costs and hassles that are tied to a
lot of the state regulatory proposals."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/138320_wireless06.html

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