Today: FCC Calls for Waiver of Wireless Bills in Areas Affected by Hurricane Michael, FTC Will Release Consumer Complaint Data

FCC Calls for Waiver of Wireless Bills in Areas Affected by Hurricane Michael Restoration

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement regarding restoration efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael:

“Even though efforts to restore communications services have been going well in most of the areas affected by Hurricane Michael, the slow progress in restoring wireless service in areas close to where the hurricane made landfall is completely unacceptable.  While the FCC has been in regular contact with companies serving the affected areas, I’m concerned that their actions on the ground aren’t matching the urgency that we have conveyed during those conversations. I am therefore joining Governor Scott in calling on wireless carriers to waive the bills of Floridians in these affected areas for the month of October and to allow them to change carriers without penalty. These carriers also need to immediately disclose publicly to Floridians how they will quickly restore service. In addition, I have directed our Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau to promptly initiate an investigation into this matter.”

FTC Will Release Consumer Complaint Data

The FTC announced that it will be making consumer complaint data more accessible by releasing its aggregated consumer complaint data on a quarterly basis in a new interactive online format.  Up until now, the FTC has released aggregated consumer complaint data collected through its Consumer Sentinel Network on an annual basis.  The FTC’s new tool will provide a more timely snapshot of what consumers are reporting, while empowering users to explore the data by types of fraud, state, and a variety of other dimensions.

As part of this initiative, the FTC also introduced its first Consumer Protection Data Spotlight, which will take a deep dive into the data to illuminate important stories it is hearing from consumers.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.