BILL ANALYSIS 1
1
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
AB 1379 - Calderon Hearing Date:
July 8, 2003 A
As Amended: June 30, 2003 Non-FISCAL
B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law requires cellular phone companies to provide
customers with a means of obtaining reasonably current
information on service usage, as determined by the cellular
phone company, by January 1, 2004.
This bill adds roaming usage and charges to the information that
must be provided by the cellular phone company, if feasible, and
extends the deadline for implementation to January 1, 2005.
BACKGROUND
Most cellular telephone service plans include a specified number
of minutes of service in the monthly price. Minutes beyond that
specified number are subject to additional, relatively high
charges, which motivate customers to try and keep close track of
their usage. For example, a typical plan might cost
$39.99/month, which includes up to 400 minutes of service (10
cents a minute if the customer uses all 400 minutes), but that
401st minute and every minute of usage after that may cost
customers 40 cents apiece.
In response to this concern, the Legislature passed, and the
Governor signed, SB 1903 (O'Connell), Chapter 286 of the
Statutes of 2002, which required cellular phone companies to
provide customers with reasonably current information on usage.
Recognizing the technical limitations on obtaining up to the
moment usage information, the statute provided the cellular
companies with flexibility by allowing them to determine what
information is current and available.
COMMENTS
1.We'd Also Like To Know . . . This bill requires cellular
phone companies to provide customers with current information
on roaming charges and usage upon customer inquiry, if the
cellular phone company determines that such information is
available. This is a modest expansion of existing law.
2.. . . But Not Until The Following Year . Giving customers
access to their current account information isn't an uncommon
practice. Many credit card companies, banks, and long
distance telephone companies provide customers with up-to-date
information on their account balances via telephone or the
Internet. This bill proposes to take a step backwards by
extending the deadline for cellular companies to provide
customers with usage information by one year. It's unclear
why such an extension is necessary or warranted, especially in
light of the fact that companies already collect and maintain
this information for billing purposes. The author and
committee may wish to consider removing the language proposing
to delay the effective date of SB 1903 by one year.
3.Related Legislation . AB 909 (Reyes) requires telephone
companies to, upon request of a customer, provide information
on the number of landline long distance minutes they've used
during a given billing period. That measure is scheduled for
hearing today in the Senate Energy, Utilities, &
Communications Committee.
ASSEMBLY VOTES
Assembly Floor (73-0)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee
(8-4)
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
Office of Ratepayer Advocates
Oppose:
None on file
Randy Chinn
AB 1379 Analysis
Hearing Date: July 8, 2003