[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4742 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4742

    To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal 
Communications Commission to establish minimum standards regarding the 
    quality of wireless telephone service and to monitor complaints 
                        regarding such service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2000

  Mr. Weiner (for himself and Mr. Pascrell) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal 
Communications Commission to establish minimum standards regarding the 
    quality of wireless telephone service and to monitor complaints 
                        regarding such service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cell Phone Consumer Protection Act 
of 2000''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS REGARDING OF QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL 
              MOBILE SERVICE AND MONITORING OF COMPLAINTS REGARDING 
              SUCH SERVICE.

    Section 332(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(9) Quality of commercial mobile services.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Commission shall, by 
                regulation, establish such requirements as the 
                Commission considers appropriate to ensure that 
                providers of commercial mobile services meet minimum 
                standards regarding the quality and performance of such 
                service, which shall include standards regarding 
                connection, reception, and billing practices.
                    ``(B) Complaint system.--
                            ``(i) Establishment.--The Commission shall 
                        establish and administer a system that makes 
                        available a procedure for any subscriber of a 
                        commercial mobile service to register a 
                        complaint regarding the quality or performance 
                        of the service.
                            ``(ii) Toll-free number.--Such system shall 
                        include establishment of a toll-free number 
                        applicable to commercial mobile services for 
                        reporting a complaint. The Commission and any 
                        agency or entity to which the Commission has 
                        delegated authority under section 251(e) shall 
                        designate `#FCC' as such number and shall 
                        provide appropriate transition periods for 
                        areas in which such number is otherwise in use 
                        as of the date of the enactment of the Cell 
                        Phone Consumer Protection Act of 2000.
                            ``(iii) Records.--The Commission shall 
                        maintain a record of each complaint made under 
                        the system established pursuant to this 
                        subparagraph.
                            ``(iv) Notice.--The Commission shall 
                        require each provider of commercial mobile 
                        service (or the billing agent for such 
                        provider) to include, in each subscriber's bill 
                        for such service, a statement informing the 
                        subscriber that a complaint regarding the 
                        quality or performance of the service may be 
                        registered with the Commission and providing 
                        the toll-free number under clause (ii) and an 
                        address for mailing a complaint. The Commission 
                        shall take such other actions as may be 
                        appropriate to publicize the availability of 
                        the complaint system to subscribers of 
                        commercial mobile services.
                    ``(C) Reporting of complaints to congress.--Not 
                less often than once every 6 months, the Commission 
                shall submit a report to the Congress regarding 
                complaints received under the complaint system required 
                under subparagraph (B), which shall--
                            ``(i) indicate the number of complaints 
                        received, during the period for which the 
                        report is made, regarding each provider of a 
                        commercial mobile service for which a complaint 
                        is made; and
                            ``(ii) indicate the types of complaints 
                        received during such period, including 
                        complaints regarding dead spots, dropped calls, 
                        network busy signals, and improper billing 
                        practices, and the number of each type of 
                        complaint received during such period.
                Upon submission to the Congress of each report under 
                this subparagraph, the Commission shall make such 
                report publicly available by providing access to the 
                report through a World Wide Web site of the Commission.
                    ``(D) Effect on consumer protection laws.--This 
                paragraph may not be construed as relieving any 
                provider of a commercial mobile service from the 
                obligation to comply with any Federal, State, or local 
                statute or regulation relating to consumer protection 
                or unfair trade.
                    ``(E) State authority.--This paragraph may not be 
                construed as precluding any State from enacting and 
                enforcing additional and complementary oversight and 
                regulatory systems or procedures, or both, so long as 
                such systems and procedures do not significantly impede 
                the enforcement of this paragraph or other Federal 
                statutes.
                    ``(F) Exemption from forfeiture provisions.--
                Notwithstanding any provision of title V, failure to 
                comply with the requirements established under 
                subparagraph (A) shall not be subject to any penalty or 
                forfeiture under such title.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE AND REGULATIONS.

    (a) Effective Date.--The amendment made by section 2 shall take 
effect upon the expiration of the 6-month period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Regulations.--The Commission shall prescribe such regulations 
as may be necessary to carry out the amendment made by section 2. Such 
regulations shall be issued not later than, and shall take effect upon, 
the effective date under subsection (a).
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