Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1379 Telecommunications: mobile telephony service.(2003-2004)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 2890.2 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

2890.2.
 (a) A  No later than January 1, 2004, a  provider of mobile telephony services, as defined in Section 224.4,  services  shall provide subscribers with a means by which a subscriber can obtain reasonably current and available information, as determined by the provider, on the subscriber’s calling plan or plans and service usage, including roaming usage and charges.
(b) On or before January 1, 2007, a provider of mobile telephony services shall provide subscribers with a means by which a subscriber can obtain reasonably current and available information, as determined by the provider, on the subscriber’s text messaging and Internet usage and charges.
(c) (b)  Each provider of mobile telephony services shall inform subscribers at the time service is established of the availability of the information described in subdivisions subdivision  (a) and (b) and  how it may be obtained.
(c) For purposes of this section, “mobile telephony services” means commercially available interconnected mobile phone services that provide access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via mobile communication devices employing radiowave technology to transmit calls, including cellular radiotelephone, broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS), and digital Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR). “Mobile telephony services” does not include mobile satellite services or mobile data services used exclusively for the delivery of nonvoice information to a mobile device.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1 of Chapter 286 of the Statutes of 2002 is amended to read:

SECTION Section  1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Commercial mobile radio  Mobile telephony  service subscribers may currently be unable to monitor their call time minutes  minutes, including roaming usage and charges,  and, as a result, they face higher rates because they unknowingly exceed the number of minutes included under their plans.
(b) Commercial mobile radio  Mobile telephony  service subscribers need reasonably accurate information relative to their current service usage in order to enable them to better utilize their particular calling plans.
(c) Providing commercial  mobile radio telephony  service subscribers with a reasonable estimate that includes a differentiation between the types of usage covered by their plans, such as “peak” versus “free” minutes, will enable subscribers to make informed decisions about their commercial  mobile radio telephony  service.
(d) The Legislature intends to require the provision of reasonably available usage information by commercial  mobile radio telephony  service providers by January 1, 2004.
(e) Technology exists to provide commercial  mobile radio telephony  service subscribers with reasonably accurate information relative to their current service usage, and  including roaming usage and charges, and  this type of information can be obtained through a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, cellular telephone providers, Internet Web sites, and traditional telephone customer service providers, such as 1-800 telephone numbers.
(f) The Legislature intends that reasonably available, current usage information be provided to all commercial  mobile radio telephony  service subscribers, taking into consideration technical limitations that may affect reporting to a consumer, including, but not limited to, limitations on reporting “roaming” minutes incurred when a commercial  mobile radio telephony  service subscriber is outside his or her plan coverage area.