Bill Would Ease Mobile Phone Contract Changes

By Mike Billips, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

Jan. 12–ATLANTA — Cell phone customers would avoid being tied up by contract extensions when they make changes to their service, under a bill introduced in the Georgia Senate this week. Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, said he believes that customers too often are forced into two-year contracts when they simply want to get a new phone or change features on a line. “It makes it very difficult to switch” plans or cell service providers, Staton said. “This is a phone, not a car. Two years is a long time; technology advances.” Staton said he expected opposition to Senate Bill 395 from cell phone companies. He hopes to mollify some of that by changing the language of the bill to ensure that customers would be free to change contract terms only if the change did not decrease revenue for the provider.

“I’m not saying existing contracts should be set aside, but if you’re asking for a change that’s revenue-neutral, I don’t think that should obligate you for a two-year contract,” Staton said. A spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Cingular Corp. said her company wasn’t familiar enough with the bill yet to comment on it directly. But she said Cingular customers already have some ability to add or delete services without a long-term contract. “Our customers can currently make changes to their rate plan in the first half of their contract without charges to them,” Dawn Benton said. “Typically, we only require contracts when it’s a promotional price.” The bill has been referred to the Senate Science and Technology Committee, which has not yet announced a hearing on it.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

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