Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell phone charges draw lawsuit, investigation

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 15:40:54 -0500

Nextel’s chief defense: Missouri and other states are "pre-empted" from  regulating cell
phone rates by federal law and the FCC.
Nextel says it will offer to cancel the contract of any customer who objects to the fee
within 30 days of when it began.
http://archive.showmenews.com/2002/nov/20021125news010.asp

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 

Subscribe | Search Archive | Help/Feedback

Home

Classified Ads

ShowMe Classifieds

ShowMe Jobs

ShowMe Autos

ShowMe Real Estate

Departments

News

Business

Sports

For the Record

Commentary

Features

Lifestyle

Calendars

Go!

Ovation

Entertainment

Photography

Columnists

Special Reports

Our Town

Special Ad Sections

Special Sports Sections

Search Archive

Subscribe

Tribune
in Education

Tribune Jobs

Cell phone charges draw lawsuit, investigation

Published Monday, November 25, 2002

ST. LOUIS (AP) - On the heels of a class-action lawsuit questioning some monthly charges on cellular telephone bills, Missouri’s top law enforcer has begun investigating whether the bills are illegally deceptive, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in a copyright story today.

At issue is whether cell phone customers are being forced to pay for a 911-related service they’re not getting.

"We’re not really challenging their rates," said Tim Van Ronzelen, a Jefferson City attorney behind the class-action lawsuit. "We’re challenging a billing practice, especially the way it’s placed on a customer’s bill, under all these federal and state taxes. It makes a person think it’s a tax - when it’s not."

The issue stems from the federal government’s wanting your location and cell phone number to pop up on a computer screen at the local 911 emergency center. Calls for help on corded phones have had that ability for years; cell phones require different technology just now starting to be used.

To accomplish this, local public safety departments and cell companies are spending millions of dollars on new equipment. In August, Missouri voters rejected for the second time a referendum to pay for the changes with a 50-cent-per-month fee on cell phone bills.

Some cell phone companies say they are paying for the equipment without extra charges to their customers. In Missouri, three companies - Nextel, Alltel and Sprint - have added separate charges on monthly customer bills for the 911 update.

None of the three companies offers the emergency 911 service yet, said R.D. Porter, the Missouri state 911 coordinator.

"They are telling customers they have the service when in reality it’s not available," Porter said.

Consumer fraud lawyers in the state attorney general’s office also are investigating whether they have jurisdiction and whether any laws have been broken, spokesman Scott Holste said.

Missouri’s unfair merchandising law bars deception, misrepresentation, concealment or omission of facts and other unfair practices.

Nextel’s chief defense: Missouri and other states are "pre-empted" from regulating cell phone rates by federal law and the FCC.

Nextel says it will offer to cancel the contract of any customer who objects to the fee within 30 days of when it began.

Three other cell companies - AT&T Wireless, Cingular and Verizon - say they don’t charge a separate 911 fee in Missouri.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2002 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights Reserved.