Telecom Consumer Rights:
Lesson from Other Countries
Isriya Paireepairit <markpeak@gmail.com> June 2009
Original photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/robthetog/3206383684/

Isriya Paireepairit
markpeak@gmail.com

"The cell phone industry ranks
number one among all industries in
consumer complaints filed”
Richard Holober
Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California
http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=203

What is Telecom Industry
● Landline phone
● Mobile phone
● Internet (Dialup/ADSL)
● Mobile Broadband
● International Internet Gateway
● Cable TV
● Software?
● Computer Hardware?

New Frontier?
● Online Game Service?
● Online Computing Service?
● Cloud Computing
● Online Application (e.g. Hotmail, Gmail)
● Online Backup
● Online Content (e.g. Newspaper Subscription)
● e-book Providers (e.g. Amazon Kindle)
● Social Networks (e.g. Facebook, Hi5)

Issues
● Privacy ● Monopoly
● Telemarketing ● Censorship
● Pricing ● Internet Neutrality
● TOS ● Accessibility
● Service Contract ● Universal Service

Case: Privacy
● Industry: Internet/Social Network

Case: Privacy
● Profile Photos
● Only Friends can see

Case Privacy
● Jan 08: 44,000 MySpace users were hacked.
All photos published online
http://www.blognone.com/node/6842
● June 08: Facebook TopFriends application
banned
http://www.blognone.com/node/8179
● July 08: Hundreds of O2 MMS Photo leaked
http://www.blognone.com/node/8405

Case: Privacy
● Dec 08: Stacy Snyder Case
● vs Millersville University of Pennsylvania
● student-teaching
● MySpace Party Photo (Drunken)
● No Degree
● Outcome: Case Dismissed
● http://www.blognone.com/node/9870

Other Privacy Issues
● Street Map
● Google Street View/MapJack
● http://www.blognone.com/node/10775
● http://www.blognone.com/node/8748
● EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online
Privacy
● http://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy
● Google Health?

Problems?
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-06-03-n48.html

Case: Pricing
● Country: EU
● Industry: Mobile Phone (SMS)
● Date: 2008
● Source:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/sms/index_en.htm

Case: Pricing
● SMS is expensive
● Study (UK)
● Actual SMS Price: £374.49 per MB
● NASA-Hubble Price: £8.5 per MB
● Estimated Cost: £85 per MB
● http://www.blognone.com/node/7768
● US Senator asked Operator for explanations
● http://www.blognone.com/node/8944

Case: Pricing
● European Commissions (EC) proposal
● Approved by EU Telecom Ministers
● Limited price for SMS Roaming within EU
● Roaming SMS
● Previous: €0.29 / msg
● Now: €0.11 / msg
● Roaming GPRS
● Previous: €10 / MB
● Now: €1 / MB
● http://www.blognone.com/node/9827

Case: Telemarketing
● Country: USA
● Industry: Phone/Mobile Phone
● Date: 2003 (USA)
● Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Do_Not_Call_Registr y

Case: Telemarketing
● USA: National Do Not
Call Registry
● Start in 2003
● Do-Not-Call Improvement
Act of 2007
● Exceptions: Politics,
Surveys, Charities
● https://www.donotcall.gov
● http://www.everycall.us/

Case: Telemarketing
● Other Countries
● Canada: Canadian Do Not Call List (2004)
https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca
● Australia: National Do Not Call Registry (2006)
https://www.donotcall.gov.au/
● UK: Telephone Preference Service (1999)
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/
● New Zealand: Name Removal Service
http://www.marketing.org.nz/

Case: Service Contract
● Country: USA
● Industry: Mobile Phone
● Date: 2008
● Source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24764563/

Case: Service Contract
● Now
● Consumer to quit current contract: pay $175 to
operator
● Consumer can sue operator
● Proposed:
● Free to quit (within first 30 days, no refund)
● Consumer can't sue operator
● Status: Unknown

Case: Monopoly
● Country: USA
● Industry: Telecom
● Date: 2008 (ongoing)
● Consumer Federation of California (CFC)
Opposes Bill to Make Telecom Company
Mergers Easier
● Source: http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=337

Case: Monopoly
● AT&T
● Origin: 1877 by Alexander
Graham Bell
● Found: 1885
● Super-Monopoly
● 1974: Department of Justice filed
Antitrust case
● 1982: AT&T broke up to 7
companies

Case: Monopoly
● Microsoft
● (USA) 1998: Browser Monopoly
● (EU) 2003: Windows Media Player
– €497M fine (2004)
– €899M fine (2008)
● (South Korea) 2005: Windows Media Player, MSN
Messenger
– $32M fine
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Microsoft_competition_case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120700137.html

Case: Censorship
● Country: Brazil
● Industry: Web
● Date: 2006-2007
● Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniela_Cicarelli#Spanish_beach_video_scandal

Daniela Cicarelli
● Brazilian Model
● Former Wife of
Ronaldo

● 2006 video scandal in Spain
● Video uploaded to YouTube
● Brazil court ban YouTube
● Supreme Court reversed decision, unblock
● “Blocking YouTube can't prevent video spread”

Case: Universal Service
● Universal Service
● “baseline level of services to every resident of a
country”
● Telecom Industry

Case: Universal Service
● USA
● US Telecommunications Act of 1996
● to promote the availability of quality services at just,
reasonable, and affordable rates
● to increase access to advanced telecommunications
services throughout the Nation
● to advance the availability of such services to all
consumers, including those in low income, rural,
insular, and high cost areas at rates that are
reasonably comparable to those charged in urban
areas

Case: Universal Service
● US: Universal Service Fund (USF)
● Budget from Telecom providers
– Subsidize expensive telecom rate
– Provide basic telecom for low-income
– Provide cheap telecom for rural health-care, education
– http://www.usac.org/about/universal-service
● UK: Universal Service Obligation (USO)
● India: Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)
● Chile: Telecommunications Development Fund
(FDT)

Consumer Telecom Right Groups
● Consumers Union / Consumer Reports
http://www.consumerreports.org
● Consumer Federation of California: Telecom
http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?list=type&type=17
● Canada: The Public Interest Advocacy Center (PIAC)
http://www.piac.ca
●

Regulators
● Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
● Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
http://www.crtc.gc.ca
● European Parliament / European Commission
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eyouguide/navigation/index_en.htm#

Law
● USA: Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act
of 2007
● Goal: Operator must reveal more/easier service
information
● Status: Introduced to Congress
● Info: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2033

Some Good Sign
● European Parliament to reform EU telecom
rules
● To increase consumer protection, privacy,
competition
● http://www.cdrinfo.com/sections/news/Details.aspx?NewsId=25286