FCC Launches Inquiry on Strengthening Consumer Protections in the Communications Industry While CPUC Continues its Own Investigations
On October 23, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to gather information on the quality of customer service provided by cable, broadband, satellite TV, and voice service providers. The NOI also seeks to “empower consumers to easily cancel subscriptions, talk to live customer service representatives, easily consent to or decline automatic service renewals, and improve the accessibility of customer service engagement.” With this NOI, the FCC is continuing its recent emphasis on consumer protection issues, having adopted rules earlier this year to combat hidden fees by requiring “all-in” pricing for cable and satellite services.
Pointing to the “thousands of complaints … relating to cancellation of service, unavailability of service representatives, and automatic renewal of subscription services” it receives each year, the FCC stressed that “competition and market incentives work most efficiently when consumers know the terms of service before picking a provider, can quickly resolve service and billing issues, and can easily change service providers when they are dissatisfied with their current service provider.”
To address these concerns the NOI seeks comment on a variety of possible improvements to the customer experience, including:
- Simple Cancellation – Providing more cancellation options and better disclosure of cancellation practices at the point of sale and on bills.
- Automatic Renewal of Service – Ensuring providers obtain explicit customer consent for broadband and voice service providers before automatically renewing a service and/or increasing prices after a trial or promotional period expires.
- Access to Live Representatives – Helping to avoid bouncing consumers from one call menu list to another in a time-consuming effort to obtain resolution.
- Installation, Outage, and Service Calls – Extending cable operator installation, outage, and service call rules to also apply to satellite TV, voice, and broadband services.
- Individuals with Disabilities – Improving the accessibility of customer service resources for individuals with disabilities.
- Expanded Cable Customer Resources – Updating current cable operator customer service requirements to reflect marketplace and technology changes.
- Harmonizing Customer Service Standards Across Services – Whether to harmonize the FCC’s existing cable operator customer service rules with customer service requirements for voice, broadband, and Direct Broadcast Satellite (a.k.a. satellite TV) consumers.
Opening comments are due November 22, 2024, and reply comments are due December 9, 2024. An NOI is the first step in the FCC process, and will be followed by the issuance of one or more notices of proposed rulemaking if the FCC wishes to take specific actions based on information gathered in this inquiry.
Meanwhile, the California Public Utilities Commission continues to investigate ways to strengthen customer service for video, broadband, and voice service providers in two different proceedings, one initiated on voice and broadband providers in 2022 and another on video service providers in 2023. The proceeding on voice and broadband providers is phased, and currently the Administrative Law Judge is considering stakeholder comments on a staff proposal for new rules for voice services. On the video services side, a public participation hearing was held earlier this month. Both California proceedings are expected to continue into 2025.
For more information, contact Gail Karish and Tim Lay.
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