Phone consumers have long been experiencing unauthorized charges on their bill from third-party companies, for downloads such horoscopes and love tips, that they normally complain they did not do. These tactics are called "cramming" or "spamming" and had been around in the telecom industry for ages.
On October 2014, as cited by Android Authority, AT&T was reportedly fined a hefty amount of $105 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), against a complaint that the wireless carrier is billing its consumers for third-party charges. Now, another wireless giant faces controversy on a cramming scheme complaint.
Sprint, one of the top four U.S. wireless carriers, is allegedly involved in cramming where they overcharge their consumer's bill and may face a $105 million fine by The FCC.
According to The Wall Street Journal, The Federal Communications Commission is getting ready to fine Sprint Corp. for charging its consumers for unwanted services such Premium SMS.
No reports yet if Sprint and FCC is negotiating whether the fine should be reduced.
It can be recalled that Sprint paid FCC $7.5 million in May for violations on unsolicited calls. So, if the fine against Sprint will be approved, this would be their second time being fined by FCC.
It is also worthy to note that Senate Commerce Committee reported that these third-party companies, who bills wireless carrier consumers unwanted charges, became a billion-dollar industry. It claimed that huge portion of those charges were "bogus" and wireless carriers are "keeping a portion of the revenue for themselves."