Allow AT&T to move forward?

The FCC recently announced that an $11.7 million fine had been levied against four companies for “cramming.” That is when a company puts “unauthorized charges” onto a customer’s phone bill.

In April of 1997, AT&T was ordered by the Congress and the FCC to charge cost-based rates to pay phone companies on their phone lines. For the next 7 years AT&T systematically overcharged these companies on their phone bills — a fact AT&T does not deny.

Is there a difference between “overcharging” and “unauthorized charges?” In either case, one company has decided to put charges on a customers’ phone bill that do not belong there. It would seem to me that “overcharging” is by definition an “unauthorized charge” and therefore, cramming.

If these four companies were guilty of cramming, then AT&T is too. Should AT&T be allowed to go forward with a $39 billion takeover when it so callously treats its existing customer base?

Mike Simon

Glen Ellyn