QoS 101 With Professor FCC

A bill before the House of Representatives would hold wireless providers to quality-of-service (QoS) standards and make their grades available to the public. Service providers, however, appear unwilling to go back to school.

The Cell Phone Consumer Protection Act of 2000 calls for the FCC to establish minimum QoS standards for issues such as dead spots, dropped calls, network-busy signals and improper billing. Subscribers also would be able to dial #FCC toll-free to register complaints directly with the commission. That number would be advertised on subscribers' bills, and complaints would be compiled and made available to the public twice a year via the Internet. If the bill becomes law, providers would have six months to implement the system.

The bill's sponsor, Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY), said that personal and professional experiences prompted the legislation, which aims to help consumers choose providers that give them the best service.

"Our office got a number of calls from constituents who were having problems with their cell-phone service throughout New York," said Serena Torrey, Weiner's press secretary.

Introduced in June, the bill was sent to the House Committee on Commerce and is under subsequent review by the Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection.

AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS declined comment on the bill, but CTIA expressed the industry's opposition in a late July letter to Weiner. Written by Steven K. Berry, CTIA senior vice president of congressional affairs, the letter mentions "our deep concern about certain statements attributed to you in the media in connection with this legislation." Berry is "particularly troubled" by Weiner's statement that consumers will send the FCC twice as many wireless-related complaints this year as they did in 1999. Berry believes that argument is irrelevant because the number of subscribers has nearly doubled while complaints remain steady at about 13 per one million subscribers.

Berry also argued that the proposed complaint structure would be an unnecessary expense.

In his letter, Berry blamed spectrum caps as one reason for poor service. The Spectrum Resource Assurance Act, sponsored by Cliff Stearns (R-FL), calls for providers to "obtain sufficient spectrum" to satisfy current and future demands. Both bills currently are under review by the same subcommittee.

Although each bill outlines paths that are as different as their respective political parties, both seek the same result: better service. Weiner's office hopes that motivation isn't lost on the industry that opposes his bill.