BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1379
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2003
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Sarah Reyes, Chair
AB 1379 (Calderon) - As Amended: April 23, 2003
SUBJECT : Telecommunications: mobile telephony service.
SUMMARY : Requires wireless carriers to provide subscribers with
a means to access information on their roaming usage and
charges. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a provider of mobile telephony services to develop,
no later than by January 1, 2004, a means to allow subscribers
to obtain reasonable and available information on their
roaming usage and charges.
2)Defines mobile telephony services to mean commercially
available interconnected mobile phone services that provide
access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via
mobile communication devices employing radiowave technology to
transmit calls, including cellular radiotelephone, broadband
Personal Communication Services (PCS), and digital Specialized
Mobile Radio (SMR).
3)Specifies that mobile telephony services does not include
mobile satellite services or mobile data services used
exclusively for the delivery of nonvoice information to a
mobile device.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a provider of commercial mobile radio service to
develop a means to allow subscribers to obtain reasonably
current and available information, as determined by the
provider, on the subscriber's calling plan or plans and
service usage.
2)Requires each provider of commercial mobile radio service to
inform subscribers at the time service is established of the
availability of the information on their calling plan or plans
and service usage and how it can be obtained.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
AB 1379
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COMMENTS :
The purpose of this bill : According to the author, this measure
has been introduced to resolve the initial shock a consumer has
when they receive their first cellular phone bill and find it to
be unexpectedly high. Presently, a consumer has avenues in
which to access their usage time, which means they can figure
out before the bill comes, there up to minute charges on usage
time. What a consumer can't find out is their update roaming
usage and charges.
Does existing law already allow this? Current law already
requires a provider of commercial mobile radio service to
develop a means to allow subscribers to obtain reasonably
current and available information, as determined by the
provider, on the subscriber's calling plan or plans and service
usage. Do wireless phone carriers already have the ability to
give consumers roaming charge information under current law if
they ask?
Implementation date problematic : This bill requires providers
of mobile telephony service to make available to its subscribers
with a means by which they can obtain reasonably current and
public information, as determined by the provider, on the
roaming usage and charges by no later than January 1, 2004. Can
the providers of mobile telephony service provide this
information within the next nine (9) months or do they need to
have an implementation date closer to January 1, 2005?
The committee recommendation is to specify that this bill will
go into affect on January 1, 2005 in order to give the carriers
enough time to provide subscribers with a way to access their
roaming usage and charges information.
Consumer Bill of Rights Proceeding : On June 6, 2002 the
California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) started an Order
Instituting Rulemaking for the purpose of creating an interim
draft decision on a Consumer Bill of Rights for all
telecommunication carriers and their customers. The interim
draft decision required all telecommunications carriers to meet
certain standards, set by PUC, for disclosure, consumer choice,
privacy, public participation and enforcement, accurate bills
and redress, non-discrimination, and safety. In the last four
years, the number of complaints against phone carriers in
California has risen dramatically from approximately 11,000
AB 1379
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grievances filed in 1999 to about 18,000 complaints in 2000 to
an all-time high of 31,345 petitions by the end of 2001.
Customers who said they were deceptively or erroneously charged
for a service without their authorization filed most of the
complaints to PUC.
Will PUC in their Consumer Bill of Rights proceeding require
wireless carriers to provide roaming and usage information to
their subscribers? Currently, the wireless service industry is
deregulated but PUC does have regulatory oversight over the
service quality standards for the industry.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Office of Ratepayer Advocates
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Daniel Kim / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083