U.S. mulls effort to prevent cell phone 'bill shock'

WASHINGTON, USA: Cell phone companies could be required to alert customers before charges add up to shocking totals on their phone bills, according to a proposal being weighed by U.S. regulators.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday began asking for comments from the public on an effort to help consumers avoid "bill shock" when they run beyond their limits in their wireless phone plan.

The FCC is responding to complaints involving all the major wireless carriers from consumers who have been surprised by steep cell phone bills.

"We are hearing from consumers about unpleasant surprises on their bills," said Joel Gurin, chief of the agency's consumer and government affairs unit. "Avoiding bill shock is good for consumers and ultimately good business for wireless carriers as well."

Potential causes include unclear advertising, unanticipated roaming and data charges, he said.

The FCC's public notice asks for comments on what differences exist that could prevent U.S. providers from using alerts similar to those required by the European Union and the extent to which providers already give alerts, among other questions.

The changes would affect wireless companies such at AT&T Inc, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

The wireless industry's trade group said that all four of the big carriers give consumers the opportunity to check their account activity by calling free telephone lines, but did not comment specifically on the proposal.

An AT&T official said they are reviewing the announcement but also noted self-service features consumers can now use to check their balances.