Dear Mr. Powell:

I am writing because I believe cellular phone service in New York City has reached abysmal levels. Dropped calls, jammed networks, poor call quality and rigid contracts are quickly transforming an excellent modern convenience into a nightmare for consumers. I believe that there are several common sense regulations that the FCC could implement which could go a long way toward helping consumers make informed decisions about their wireless providers. It is my hope that, through some changes I suggest below, New York City cellular phone service will reach its true potential.

In order for consumers to make an informed choice between wireless companies, cell phone providers must disclose the extent and quality of their coverage to their customers. The FCC's recent decision to no longer require coverage maps was a step in the wrong direction. Instead, the FCC should work with these companies to devise a standardized map that each vendor would have to give customers at the point of sale. This map would show each company's signal variation throughout the city (i.e. brighter colors where the signal is strong and darker colors where it was weak) in an effort to allow consumers to compare which provider has the best service in areas of greatest import to them. This step would provide wireless companies with incentives to improve their service levels because strong signal strength would become a major selling point to consumers.

Since most service plans lock consumers into contracts of one year or more, it is important that consumers be sure of the network quality they are signing up for. One way to accomplish this is to allow users who sign up for long-duration contracts a 30-day trial period during which time a consumer may cancel the contract without penalty if it turns out the service is not up to par. I invite you to consider additional mechanisms to meet this goal.

The FCC should also prevent companies from charging users for excessive connection times and dropped calls. Far too often, it takes fifteen seconds or more to make a connection or a user's call will be terminated in mid-conversation. Companies should be allowed to count only a fixed connection time for each phone call while users should not be charged for the minute in which a call was dropped. The current call structure makes cell phone customers bear the brunt of network service problems.

It's also time to stop extending industry deadlines for complying with FCC mandates for number portability. We are now over three years beyond the original number portability deadline and the FCC has again set a new date for industry compliance. Consumers are already bound to specific wireless providers by long duration contracts with high escape penalties without number portability creating another barrier to change once the contract has ended. The most recent waiver has allowed companies to deny the right of phone number portability until November 2003. This waiver should be rescinded and number portability should be implemented as soon as possible.

Finally, as you know, service problems can lead to more than just inconvenience. With an increase in 911 calls coming from cell phones, the FCC must ensure that effective emergency response services are available. To that end, I am asking that you investigate why New York State, which has collected a $1.20 911 compatibility monthly fee from every cell phone subscriber's bill over the last ten years, has not used the money to create a functioning network.

I am well aware that minimizing regulation of the wireless industry is a key to making it vital. Arguments against regulation, however, cannot be used to preserve a system that forces consumers to deal with poor service and prevents them from making a free and informed choice of provider. The FCC is in the unique position to help push the cell phone industry in the right direction. If these common sense suggestions are implemented, I think we will see better service in New York City and across the nation. I look forward to hearing from you and am willing to assist you in any way possible.

Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator