Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Voluntary Code Draws Mixed Bag

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 20:31:36 -0400

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Wireless Week
Breaking News Alert
September 9, 2003
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Voluntary Code Draws Mixed Bag

By Mark Rockwell

WASHINGTON -- An impressive array of federal and state regulators,
wireless carrier officials and wireless industry lobbyists gathered
here today to unveil CTIA's voluntary consumer code that lays out
general guidelines for marketing, sales, billing and privacy for
wireless consumers.

CTIA spelled out 10 points that all major wireless carriers, including
Alltel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile USA, AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless and
others, have agreed to as part of a voluntary coding system. Each
carrier would receive a seal of approval to use in its advertising
when they signed onto the code and each would be re-certified every
year by CTIA to make sure they were still in compliance with the
guidelines. "The code is a floor" on which carriers are free to build
even more stringent consumer guidelines on top of them, said CTIA
President and CEO Tom Wheeler.

The 10 guidelines require carriers to: disclose rates and terms of
service to consumers; make available maps showing where service is
generally available; provide contract terms to customers and confirm
changes in service; allow a 14-day trial period for new service;
provide specific disclosures in advertising; separately identify
carrier charges from taxes on billing statements; provide customers
the right to terminate service for changes to contract terms; provide
ready access to customer service; promptly respond to consumer
inquiries and complaints received from government agencies; and abide
by policies for protection of customer privacy.

Carriers already are moving forward on the code. Len Lauer, Sprint
PCS' division president, said the carrier has incorporated some of the
contractual requirements into its existing service contracts and the
information will be available on its Web site and at retail stores
starting this evening.

Critics, however, said there were no hard enforcement measures in the
proposal to make sure carriers adhere to the guidelines. The only
threat is not being re-certified by CTIA.

Wheeler contends consumer issues are the next competitive frontier for
carriers and non-certification could be a significant liability for
informed consumers in a competitive industry such as wireless.

There was agreement among carriers and regulators that the code was an
important first step in self-regulation of a competitive industry. At
the press conference unveiling the code, carrier executives and other
industry luminaries backed the effort. Chairman of the House Commerce
Committee Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R- La., applauded the effort
coming from an industry that "gets it" when it comes to effectively
handling problems. He said he was dismayed by the California Public
Utility Commission's proposal for stringent codified rules that could
be imposed on wireless carriers in that state. "If more industries
would work together collectively and inform consumers, maybe it would
keep regulators off" their backs, he says.

Even officials from the FCC applauded CTIA's effort as a good start.
"Voluntary is better than mandatory," said FCC wireless bureau chief
John Muleta after the announcement. The FCC, however, still is set on
enforcing the upcoming Nov. 24 deadline for another important consumer
issue: wireless local number portability.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell also noted his approval. "I commend CTIA
and its members on their efforts to standardize industry practices of
providing consumers information about wireless service plans. The
proper functioning of a highly competitive market -- which the
wireless market has proven to be -- depends on consumers having
accurate and meaningful information at all stages of the customer
relationship."

Wheeler said the issue of LNP and voluntary consumer codes were
"apples and oranges," adding that LNP wouldn't prevent carriers from
offering more information on billing and service areas to their
customers. LNP allows consumers to keep their existing phone number
while switching service providers. CTIA recently filed an appeal in an
effort to slow the LNP deadline.

LNP's absence from the code didn't upset Muleta, however. Muleta
generally concurred that CTIA's code was more about "after" switching
services and LNP was more about  anticipating the switch. In other
words, the LNP sticking point between carriers and the agency wouldn't
preclude advances in other consumer-related areas.

There could be trouble on the horizon, however. Before CTIA's
announcement, Consumers Union issued a tart statement denouncing the
effort. Consumers Report publisher Consumers Union called CTIA's plan
"vague, ambiguous and inadequate."

The nonprofit organization said the code offered by cell phone
providers "also contains no mechanism for holding carriers accountable
for the promises they are making."

"The voluntary code is a last-ditch effort to head off meaningful
consumer rights at the state level," the organization said.

State regulators this afternoon also seemed to back away from their
initial support of the code. Stan Wise, head of the National
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said NARUC does not
support the consumer code in its current form. However, "I commend the
wireless industry for working to formulate its own code. It is a good
first step. Much, however, remains to be done to ensure that the needs
of wireless consumers are met. The ideas in two of our recent
resolutions will certainly improve the industry's work. We strongly
encourage CTIA to incorporate all the ideas and principles in those
resolutions into its code," Wise said.

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From: Rick Parrish <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 20:49:13 -0500

How many years of deregulation and the carriers are just now getting
around to this?

(and Nextel is not mentioned amoung the carriers listed)

-rick

[email-masked] wrote:

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