Calling for better cell phone service.(View point: the Consumers Union perspective)

Remember the Lily Tomlin character Ernestine the Operator? She responded to callers' complaints with, "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company." The Ma Bell monopoly may be gone, but too many consumers still have to deal with an Ernestine the Operator attitude in the deregulated telecommunications market.

Kathleen Brooks of Medford, Ore., said she was exhausted after "slogging through a customer service nightmare" with her cell phone company. Her $65 monthly bill inexplicably shot up to $350. Brooks says she talked to a number of customer service representatives, most of whom were unable to help her understand her bill. In the end, she paid $734 for what she says were largely erroneous and unexplained charges before switching carriers.

Last year, telecommunications consumers filed tens of thousands of complaints about local, long-distance, and wireless phone service with state and federal regulators and consumer protection agencies. Complaints regarding billing, advertising, fraud, and service quality top the list of problems reported.

Consumers Union is advocating reforms that will improve service and enhance competition in telecommunications markets. On the federal level, we've endorsed the effort of Sen. Charles Schumer (D.N.Y) to enact legislation that would help consumers who have problems with cell phone service. The bill would address add-on fees and service-coverage maps.

In California, we support a Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights that could become a model for states, the traditional enforcers of consumer protection laws. It would require all telecommunications companies, including wireless carriers, to disclose service and price information fully and ...