Oct 31, 2014, 03:01 am
The big broadband players keep trying to tell us (and politicians and regulators) how good they are and how much we can trust them. Part of their whole pitch on killing net neutrality is that they'd never do anything to harm consumers. And yet... Just this week, the FTC has sued AT&T for lying to consumers about its "unlimited" plans (just weeks after AT&T was fined for "cramming" bills with unwanted charges). And in the last few days it's also come out that Comcast has agreed to pay $50 million to settle overbilling claims, and Verizon has agreed to pay $64 million to settle overbilling claims. And that was all by Wednesday. There's still more time this week.
If these were one-off situations, it would be one thing. But these companies have a fairly long history of shady billing practices, dreadful customer service and similar antics. This is part of the reason why some people are so concerned about the various merger attempts by these companies and why they're all actively seeking to block meaningful regulatory oversight. Bad practices like these can be limited when there's meaningful competition -- but even the FCC is now admitting we don't have that in the broadband market.
This is a real problem.
Broadband access has become such a key part of how we live and how we work. And it's controlled by companies that have a long and detailed history of treating their customers horribly, lumping on bogus fees, overbilling and providing horrible, horrible service. That's not a recipe for a strong and innovative future. It's suggesting some companies are focused on squeezing as much cash as possible out of consumers, while providing a bare minimum level of service and blocking any and all attempts at meaningful competition.
These latest overbilling settlements are just a few small examples of a much larger problem that has been going on for years. It's something that absolutely needs to change. And it won't change by making those companies more powerful and limiting the competition even more.
Originally Published: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 17:28:00 GMT
source
If these were one-off situations, it would be one thing. But these companies have a fairly long history of shady billing practices, dreadful customer service and similar antics. This is part of the reason why some people are so concerned about the various merger attempts by these companies and why they're all actively seeking to block meaningful regulatory oversight. Bad practices like these can be limited when there's meaningful competition -- but even the FCC is now admitting we don't have that in the broadband market.
This is a real problem.
Broadband access has become such a key part of how we live and how we work. And it's controlled by companies that have a long and detailed history of treating their customers horribly, lumping on bogus fees, overbilling and providing horrible, horrible service. That's not a recipe for a strong and innovative future. It's suggesting some companies are focused on squeezing as much cash as possible out of consumers, while providing a bare minimum level of service and blocking any and all attempts at meaningful competition.
These latest overbilling settlements are just a few small examples of a much larger problem that has been going on for years. It's something that absolutely needs to change. And it won't change by making those companies more powerful and limiting the competition even more.
Originally Published: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 17:28:00 GMT
source