CTIA: FCC Bill Shock Alerts "would cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to implement.”

  
The New York Times has a story about the objections to the FCC proposal requiring wireless carriers to alert consumers when they’re about to reach their plans’ limits, which is now even more relevant due to the move from unlimited data plans to usage-based billing (background: here and here).

Story by Randall Stross - "Please, Just Tell Me When I’m Nearing My Limit" (here).

The article brings the CTIA origination position on the matter, which says (among other arguments) that "customers can check their current charges by going to their carrier’s Web site and looking them up — or by sending short codes on their phones or installing apps on their smartphones that can provide a tally of minutes and data use. And if customers don’t remember to check, the carriers can shrug and say, “Not our fault.”

Christopher Guttman-McCabe, vice president for regulatory affairs at the C.T.I.A. (picture) says "the F.C.C.’s alerts requirement would cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to implement.” But the C.T.I.A.’s own written statement [here] describes an industry that has already made considerable investments in infrastructure that enable real-time alerts about use."  

Nevertheless, the CTIA indicates that "AT&T already provides three alerts to iPad users: when data use has reached 80 percent of the plan’s allocation, again at 90 percent, and once more when the allocation has been reached and overages begin and the SmartAccess program from T-Mobile"

See also a recent CTIA Blog post - "CTIA to FCC: Competition, Not Regulation Offers Innovative Account Management Tools" - here.

CTIA is consistent with his objections to FCC regulation (See "CTIA President: "we believe there isn't any need to apply Net neutrality regulations to wireless." - here)