[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 732 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 732

    To improve billing disclosures to cellular telephone consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 2011

 Mr. Udall of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was read 
     twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To improve billing disclosures to cellular telephone consumers.

    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 Bill Shock Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) A recent survey conducted by the Federal Communications 
        Commission found that 1 out of 6 consumers who subscribe to 
        commercial mobile service has experienced ``bill shock'', which 
        is the sudden increase in the monthly bill of a subscriber even 
        though the subscriber has not made changes to their monthly 
        service plan.
            (2) Most consumers who experience bill shock do not receive 
        notification from their provider of commercial mobile service 
        when the consumer is about to exceed the monthly limit of voice 
        minutes, text message, or data megabytes.
            (3) Most consumers who experience bill shock do not receive 
        notification from their provider of commercial mobile service 
        that their bill has suddenly increased.
            (4) Prior to the enactment of this Act, a provider of 
        commercial mobile service was under no obligation to notify a 
        consumer of such services of a pending or sudden increase in 
        their bill for the use of such service.
            (5) Section 332 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 332) requires that all commercial mobile service 
        provider charges, practices, classifications, and regulations 
        ``for or in connection with'' interstate communications service 
        be just and reasonable, and authorizes the Federal 
        Communications Commission to promulgate rules to implement this 
        requirement.

SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF CELL PHONE USAGE LIMITS; SUBSCRIBER CONSENT.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``commercial mobile 
service'' has the same meaning as in section 332(d)(1) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)(1)).
    (b) Notification of Cell Phone Usage Limits.--The Federal 
Communications Commission shall promulgate regulations to require that 
a provider of commercial mobile service shall--
            (1) notify a subscriber when the subscriber has used 80 
        percent of the monthly limit of voice minutes, text messages, 
        or data megabytes agreed to in the commercial mobile service 
        contract of the subscriber;
            (2) send, at no charge to the subscriber, the notification 
        described in paragraph (1) in the form of a voice message, text 
        message, or email; and
            (3) ensure that such text message or email is not counted 
        against the monthly limit for voice minutes, text messages, or 
        data megabytes of the commercial mobile service contract of the 
        subscriber.
    (c) Subscriber Consent.--The Federal Communications Commission 
shall promulgate regulations to require a provider of commercial mobile 
service shall--
            (1) obtain the consent of a subscriber who received a 
        notification under subsection (b) to use voice, text, or data 
        services in excess of the monthly limit of the commercial 
        mobile service contract of the subscriber before the provider 
        may allow the subscriber to use such excess services; and
            (2) allow a subscriber to, at no cost, provide the consent 
        required under paragraph (1) in the form of a voice message, 
        text message, or email that is not counted against the monthly 
        limit for voice minutes, text messages, or data megabytes of 
        the commercial mobile service contract of the subscriber.
                                 <all>