Mobile Personalization

If you've ever seen had your "rollover" minutes mysteriously yanked, or unknowingly racked up hundreds of dollars in overage fees for sending too many texts, chances are you freaked out.

The "freak out" reaction - one of many that can result from "bill shock" -- is actually preventable. What's more, the FCC's (News - Alert) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau actually launched an initiative on Wednesday to help build awareness.

In listening to testimony from consumers who've been "shocked" by rocket-high bills, the Bureau is seeking input on ways to alert consumers about potential high charges before they add up.

"We are hearing from consumers about unpleasant surprises on their bills," said Joel Gurin, Chief of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. "We've gotten hundreds of complaints about bill shock. But this is an avoidable problem.

Avoiding bill shock is good for consumers and ultimately good business for wireless carriers as well."

Today's action is one of the first initiatives undertaken by the Commission's Consumer

Task Force, which was launched in January by Chairman Genachowski and is chaired by Gurin.

"There can be many causes of bill shock, including unclear or misunderstood advertising, unanticipated roaming or data charges, and other problems," Gurin said in a statement. "All can lead to charges that people don't expect to get. In the European Union, carriers are required by law to send text messages to consumers when they are running up roaming charges or getting close to a set limit for data roaming. We're issuing a Public Notice to see if there's any reason that American carriers can't use similar automatic alerts to inform consumers when they are at risk of running up a high bill."

Now that there's more attention to bill shock, one thing an operator can do to show it cares about its customers is offer technology that will help them keep better tabs on phone usage.

Mobile personalization services provider Bridgewater Systems (News - Alert) is one of the companies that makes a "shock solution" that service providers can implement immediately. The "solution" includes a "myPolicy" client application for mobile devices, which communicates requests and retrieves the appropriate information for the subscriber. Additionally, it includes the Bridgewater "Policy Controller," which applies real-time network, application and subscriber rules - such as updating usage information and enforcing limits.

"Bridgewater's innovative policy-based bill shock solution deployed in live networks today helps service providers comply with EU data roaming regulations today, and addresses the mobile usage transparency issues raised by the FCC," said David Sharpley (News - Alert), senior vice president, Bridgewater Systems. "By giving consumers and businesses greater control over their mobile data usage and the ability to set personalized limit, notifications and special offers, service providers can improve the customer experience and prevent bill shock."