BUCKS WATCH
AT&T Fee Increase Signals Disconnect With Residential Customers - AT&T long distance customers may not be in the mood for a celebration this July 4th after the company's latest rate increases go into effect. Effective July 1, AT&T will be raising the monthly recurring charge by $3.00 on its popular One Rate USA and One Rate Advantage unlimited local and long distance bundled calling plans. The change will affect subscribers in twenty-five states including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. For additional information and a full listing of affected states, click herei . In December 2004, AT&T raised the monthly recurring charges for the two plans in ten other states by as much as $5.00 per month. For a full listing of those changes, click hereii . In May 2005, the monthly charges on these two plans were raised in eleven additional states. For more information on the May increases, click hereiii . As you can see, over the past eight months, AT&T’s One Rate USA and One Rate Advantages subscribers in forty-six states have seen their monthly recurring charges increase by as much as $5.00 per month. Since January 1, our research shows, AT&T has raised the rates, fees, or surcharges its subscribers pay on ten separate occasions. It’s time for AT&T subscribers to wake up. If AT&T wants you to stop being customers, then you should probably oblige.
WIRELESS WATCH
Talking on Cell Phones While Driving Dangerous, Say Studies - Two new studies again highlight the dangers of driving while talking on cell phones. The first study, published this week by Johns Hopkins University, notes that talking on a cellular phone while driving is especially distracting since the brain cannot give full attention to driving while the driver is on the phone, even while using a hands-free unit. The reason, according to Johns Hopkins professor Steven Yantis, is "directing attention to listening effectively 'turns down the volume' on input to the visual parts of the brain. The evidence we have right now strongly suggests that attention is strictly limited-a zero-sum game. When attention is deployed to one modality-say, in this case, talking on a cell phone-it necessarily extracts a cost on another modality-in this case, the visual task of driving." For more information on this study, click hereiv . A second study, to be released later this month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, notes that cell phones and other wireless devices contributed to the most automobile crashes, near-crashes and other incidents. The use of wireless devices were involved in what the report said were 644 "events," which includes crashes, near-crashes and having to take evasive maneuvers. There were six actual crashes while drivers in the study were on the wireless devices, the study noted. The majority of those occurrences, including all crashes, happened while drivers were on the phone talking and listening, rather than dialing a phone number. To read more about the NHSTA study, click herev. The release of these two studies comes at a time when cities and states are increasingly cracking down on cell phone use while driving. New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have already enacted hands-free laws. Similar laws in Connecticut and Chicago will soon come into force as well.
How to Protect Your Children From Inappropriate Wireless Content - Parents may soon have another front on which to wage the battle to protect their kids from indecent content – cell phones. Playboy magazine recently announced that they are developing technology that will allow wireless phone users to download adult-themed pictures, ringtones, and games to their cell phones. Other adult-content providers are sure to not be far behind in trying to cash in on this new distribution channel. With more and more teens and pre-teens carrying cellular phones, concerned parents should start thinking now about ways to protect their children from content they might not be comfortable with. Some common sense tips to help protect your children include keeping an eye on your monthly wireless phone bills. If you see unexplained charges for wireless downloads (anywhere from 99ยข on up), be sure to check with your children to see what they are downloading. Check with your wireless carrier to find out if there are ways to prevent access to and downloading of adult content. Also, your wireless carrier may be able to recommend handsets that do not have access to advanced web browsing or downloading capabilities to begin with. Subscribers often pay a monthly fee for a wireless data or Internet package. If you rarely use these services and want to make sure that your children can’t use their phones to get online, consider removing those options from your calling plan. For more information on protecting kids from indecent content on cell phones, click herevi.
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!
TRACNotes is distributed to TRAC members and those who have signed up on the TRAC website "Newscenter." If you do not want to receive TRACNotes, simply click herevii and let us know. You won't receive these in the future. We hope you choose to remain a part of our network, and that you find TRACNotes helpful. Our goal is to provide you with useful information about what is happening in the telecommunications marketplace for consumers and to keep you up to date on TRAC's policy advocacy. If you like what you see, please consider becoming a member of TRAC by clicking hereviii.
©2005 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
