Rep Eshoo Wants FCC to Investigate Below-the-Line Wireless, Wired Fees

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) -- backed by Reps Howard Coble (R-NC), Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) -- wants the Federal Communications Commission to open a proceeding on below-the-line fees on wired and wireless phone bills.

The committee said that from their own experience from the web sites of those companies -- AT&T, Century Link, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Verizon Wireless --"consumers cannot easily obtain a total estimate of their first month’s bill, including all taxes, fees and surcharges, prior to entering personal information, such as name, social security number and credit card information. Given that the combination of such charges can add as much as 42 percent to a consumer’s monthly bill, we believe that further examination by the FCC is warranted."