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Last Words
Schumer: Wireless companies 'out of control'
by AP
02/06/2003
EW YORK Senator Charles Schumer called wireless companies an "industry out of control" on Sunday as he spoke on his analysis of wireless services in the metropolitan area.
Schumer surveyed six major services in the area and found depending on the provider, the hidden fees ranged from 47 cents to $1.75 a month. Only Verizon and T-Mobile did not add the fees.
"Some wireless companies are really taking advantage here and it's a shame," Schumer said. "No amount of convenience can make up for the aggravation of bogus billing."
The fees are said to be used for service improvements like better 911 tracing. But in many cases, those upgrades have not been made by the companies, Schumer said.
He added that improved emergency call service might have saved four teenagers who drowned off City Island in January.
"The police would've wanted to locate them from their cell phone signal, but the technology wasn't there," Schumer said.
As a result, Schumer announced that he will introduce legislation to ban the hidden fees. The bill, called The Cell Phone Users Bill of Rights, will also demand that companies make improvements to emergency services as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, and allow cell phone users to keep their phone numbers when they change service providers.
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