Is S.2033 Worth the Effort?

The Senate as we speak is having a committee hearing on the Cellular industry. Funny the only company with the guts to show was Verizon. But is it worth the time and $$ to codify this stuff?

• Early Termination Fees. Yes suggested it be prorated in the legislation. However there is a court case in CA that very well might eliminate them all together. Any reader of this Blog would already know that as we reported this previously.
• Requirements for contract disclosure. Under the Universal Commercial Code all the carriers are in compliance with this. Ok so Congess wants to make it easier on the consumer. What? You really think the average consumer actually reads these things? I didn’t think so.
• Coverage maps. Well hate to tell ya, the majors already provide this data, both in-store and on a web page.
• Itemized billing. Oh gee, I must be lost! I get a nice fat itemized billing every month from Sprint. Verizon has the same option. So does AT&T. Are you starting to notice a pattern here folks??
• Automatic Contract Extension. Hey you heard it here on ThirdPipe first, in a previous post. Sprint lost a WI court case on contract extensions, so they made it universal in their terms. Verizon followed suit realizing they were next. AT&T will probably do the same.
• Service Member Termination Exclusion. Here, is a portion of the Bill that I support. It provides that should a US serviceman be called up for overseas duty they may terminate service without penalty. These wonderful men and women are being uprooted by the call up. Why should the Telco’s burden them with a ETF and cancellation fees.

My point is, 90% of this bill is already being enacted either voluntarily or thru the courts. So the two Democratic sponsors of this Bill are essentially wasting taxpayer $$ and doing a little bit of grandstanding for the folks back home.
Linky.