BUCKS WATCH
Universal Service Fees to Rise January 1 - The fee that the federal government requires wireless and long distance carriers to pay to support the federal Universal Service Fund is set to increase from 8.9% to 10.7% January 1. Typically, carriers pass this cost along directly to their subscribers in the form of a Universal Service Fee applied as a percentage of interstate call charges. MCI has already announced that they will be raising their Universal Service Fee to 10.7% on January 1, for example. On a typical $12 long distance phone bill, this would amount to an increase of 21¢ per month. The federal Universal Service Fund helps to pay for things like connecting rural and low-income users as well as telephone and broadband service in schools and libraries and telemedicine services for rural health-care providers. For more information on the Universal Service Fee, click herei.
WIRELESS WATCH
Sprint-Nextel Merger Could Mean Higher Prices - The merger announced this week between Sprint and Nextel could be the tipping point in a wireless industry that has until now been characterized by steadily falling prices. Should this merger pass regulatory muster, there will be four big wireless carriers: Sprint/Nextel; Cingular; Verizon Wireless; and T-Mobile. The large number of players in the market has been driving prices down. With fewer and fewer providers there is some concern about whether this will continue as carriers increasingly look to compete on service quality and new features instead of price alone. According to the joint press release announcing the merger, one of the most immediate impacts will be the extension of digital service to all fifty states. "I do think consumers are going to be very concerned about this idea of Sprint and Nextel if they consolidate some more, because one of the things that has been driving demand is the low price and the marketing," said TRAC chairman Samuel Simon this week during an appearance on CNN/FN. "I think as we see fewer and fewer providers there is going to be some concern about whether this will continue." For more information on the Sprint-Nextel merger, click hereii.
SCAM WATCH
Phishing to Become Even More Widespread and Dangerous, Says Study - "Phishing," -- the practice of sending spam that masquerades as messages from legitimate companies that tries to dupe users into divulging confidential information, such as bank or credit card account numbers - promises to continue to be a major worry for e-mail users in 2005, according to a new study released this week by MessageLabs, a U.K.-based message security firm. Organized gangs in central and eastern Europe, who seem to make up the majority of "phishers," continue to refine their techniques to make their bogus e-mail look more and more legitimate. While the phishing scams get more complex, they are also exploding in quantity. MessageLabs tracked 279 phishing e-mails in September 2003, but a year later, monitored over two million in the same month. During November 2004, MessageLabs tallied a whopping 4.52 million phishing-related messages. For more information on the MessageLabs study, click hereiii. Consumers can avoid getting caught by phishers by following a few common sense steps:
- Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information, especially messages that include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails.
- Don't use the links in an email to get to any web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic. Instead, call the company on the telephone or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web adress in your browser.
- Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser. To make sure you're on a secure Web server, check the beginning of the Web address in your browsers address bar - it should be "https://" rather than just "http://".
- For additional information on how to avoid phishing and what to do if you suspect that you've been phished, click hereiv.
TRAC IN THE NEWS
Ban on In-Flight Cell Phone Use No Longer Needed, Says Simon - TRAC Chairman Samuel Simon appeared on CNN/FN's "Market Call" this week to discuss the FCC's moves to consider lifting the ban on the use of mobile phones in-flight. "Consumers, public safety advocates and air marshals, would like to have the entire flight accessible for broadband and cell phone use," said Simon. The move by the FCC comes in part thanks to tests of new "picocell" technology by mobile handset-maker Qualcomm and American Airlines. "The concern in part is what different providers will work. Right now, it would be the existing provider and the users of the technology called CDMA, so if you if you`re a Sprint or Verizon Wireless customer [it would work]. There isn`t the technology for T-Mobile and Cingular [which use the GSM standard] yet. … I think from consumers' perspectives they certainly want something available as soon as possible," said Simon.
TRAC Reacts to the Sprint-Nextel Merger - TRAC Chairman Samuel Simon was asked about his views on the Sprint-Nextel merger by National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" show this week. "They're going to certainly be a confusing company for a little while because they're going to have the two different technologies, and they've tried to reassure the marketplace by saying they weren't going to change immediately, although they're not making any commitments for long term," said Simon. To listen to the segment, click herev.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
What do you think? Got a tip you want to share? Nominate your "Scam of the Week" and your "Tip of the Week" - If we select your submission, we'll give you a one-year free membership in TRAC and acknowledge your contribution by name in TRACNotes. Send an e-mail to trac@trac.org to submit your ideas!
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©2004 Telecommunications Research and Action Center. TRAC grants unlimited rights to reproduce TRACNotes or any information contained in it provided attribution is given as follows: "Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org"
Endnotes
