1 in 6 are shocked by mobile phone bills

It may come as no surprise that cell phone users are sometimes shocked by extra charges on their bills.

In a survey of 1,000 cell phone owners, the Federal Communications Commission found that one out of every six -- 30 million Americans -- have been hit with so-called "bill shock." A third of these people say their bills have jumped by up to $50 on occasion, and 23 percent said they've been hit with $100 in extra charges before.

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Not mentioned in the Associated Press' report on the survey, but worth mentioning anyway, is the tale of a woman who was handed $5,077 in extra charges when she didn't realize her AT&T netbook data plan had a 5 GB limit.

The FCC may force wireless companies to warn their customers of impending data overage or roaming charges, but Joel Gurin, head of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, told the Associated Press that it's too early to say whether the government will resort to regulation. Voluntary adoption of consumer protection standards by the wireless companies is another option.

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If the wireless companies did agree to send warnings to customers, it would likely be via text message. I'm hoping that any regulation would also apply to voice and text messages, not just data and roaming, the latter of which has become obsolete among major wireless carriers anyway.

Warning customers about impending extra charges seems like the right thing to do. The only reason I can think that wireless companies wouldn't want to do this is the obvious one: They make a lot of money on those high overage rates. But it'd take some serious spin to argue that not sending a warning is sneaky and underhanded.

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