"FCC mandated" phone upgrade to GPS-capable phone
I am surprised no one else has mentioned this yet... but I think US Cellular is trying to pull something here to trick their customers.
Quick version of the story:
- Many USCC customers got a letter last week saying that they are "required to upgrade" their phones to GPS-capable phones, or you will "be charged a substantial monthly fee".
- They said the reason for this is because of a few FCC requirement.
- I talked to someone at the FCC today, and they said that there is no requirement for people to upgrade their phones, only for the network to support the GPS features.
- USCC said that special pricing was available for this upgrade, but the prices are the same as you would always be able to get by signing a two-year contract.
I r...
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Quick version of the story:
- Many USCC customers got a letter last week saying that they are "required to upgrade" their phones to GPS-capable phones, or you will "be charged a substantial monthly fee".
- They said the reason for this is because of a few FCC requirement.
- I talked to someone at the FCC today, and they said that there is no requirement for people to upgrade their phones, only for the network to support the GPS features.
- USCC said that special pricing was available for this upgrade, but the prices are the same as you would always be able to get by signing a two-year contract.
I r...
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All carriers are mandated to make the change due to the 911 tracking feature built in 2 the newer phones, older generation cdma, and all tdma phones are incapable. There is only one real special price on a phone and thats the Kyocera Milan @ 19.95
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Isn't the 6019i usually more expensive for people on a $25 plan? If that's the case, they also get special pricing on that because they still get the 6019i for a penny.
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I wont argue on behalf of US Cellular OR the FCC. Customers who are using the older TDMA style handsets will, for the most part, have much better service once they've upgraded.
And, since you've been a loyal USCC customer for so many years I would assume that that is because you like their service.
Accept one of the low-cost GPS/CDMA capable handsets and smile. You'll have what you've had for ten years. Good service.
And, since you've been a loyal USCC customer for so many years I would assume that that is because you like their service.
Accept one of the low-cost GPS/CDMA capable handsets and smile. You'll have what you've had for ten years. Good service.
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This is not a TDMA vs CDMA upgrade. This is GPS vs no GPS.
The phone I am being asked (strongly) to upgrade is already a CDMA phone, it just doesn't have GPS.
The phone I am being asked (strongly) to upgrade is already a CDMA phone, it just doesn't have GPS.
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My apologies. I don't recall your mentioning what type of phone you have. The vast majority of the customers who are in your situation (in my experience) have the older TDMA style phones.
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oh and Micah008, how long have you been a USCC customer??? When have they ever resorted to lying or tricking their customers??? If you don't trust your carrier you should probably switch to a company much less reputable and actually get screwed
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h8rsnv-
My wife and I have been USCC customers for almost 10 years. We currently have 4 phone lines, and pay them over $100 a month. The phone in question (only 1 of the 4) has been out of its contract for almost 2 years.
For the most part USCC has been good to us. But, they have done a few things recently to make me not trust them. (changing the price of my Night and Weekend Minutes on me, etc)
Remember, what I am saying FCC is coming straight from the FCC, not from me. The following is a quote directly from the FCC:
...the (FCC) rules address "NEW handsets activated" and "NEW digital handsets activated" [uppercase emphasis added]. We find nothing in the rules requiring a subscriber to change equipment, and there’s certainly n...
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My wife and I have been USCC customers for almost 10 years. We currently have 4 phone lines, and pay them over $100 a month. The phone in question (only 1 of the 4) has been out of its contract for almost 2 years.
For the most part USCC has been good to us. But, they have done a few things recently to make me not trust them. (changing the price of my Night and Weekend Minutes on me, etc)
Remember, what I am saying FCC is coming straight from the FCC, not from me. The following is a quote directly from the FCC:
...the (FCC) rules address "NEW handsets activated" and "NEW digital handsets activated" [uppercase emphasis added]. We find nothing in the rules requiring a subscriber to change equipment, and there’s certainly n...
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Wow, this is one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. US Cellular is a business over all else, they are about their bottom line, just as all corporations are and as all phone carriers are. You have to assume you're being screwed and be on the defensive to ensure that you're not. I've been screwed over twice by US Cell but I continue to stick with them because they have the best network in my area. But certainly don't trust them. Don't trust any cell phone carrier. If you do, you're just naive.
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Just switched to Sprint. Already had a billing mistake. I think I had 1 or 2 minor problems with uscc in 5 years!!! Before everyone blows their lid, I'm moving and uscc isn't available there. If they were, I would have stuck with them!!!!
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(sigh) i was hoping to find that i would be lucky enough to have my POS v262 non GPS capable so i could upgrade. Ah well...just not that lucky.
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The FCC mandated that all the carriers have GPS capability by one date, and that they have a certain percentage of their network's users on compatible handsets by another recently passed date. The "substantial monthly fee" would be assessed to USCC, who would probably pass it to the customers. Although, if I remember correctly, the letter that USCC sent out to its customers doesn't explicitly say the customer will pay it.
What's funny is that there was a deadline for the carriers to implement this, but no deadline for municipalities to install it into their 911 centers.
What's funny is that there was a deadline for the carriers to implement this, but no deadline for municipalities to install it into their 911 centers.
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From the letter:
"you must replace all of your non-compliant phones with new phones with GPS technology or risk being charged a substantial monthly non-compliance fee."
I called the 1-800 number in the letter and I asked for more information on this. They said that I "will" start getting charged a fee on 4/29/06, they just don't yet know how large it will be.
"you must replace all of your non-compliant phones with new phones with GPS technology or risk being charged a substantial monthly non-compliance fee."
I called the 1-800 number in the letter and I asked for more information on this. They said that I "will" start getting charged a fee on 4/29/06, they just don't yet know how large it will be.
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all of you will understand why this is taking place towards the end of may or the early part of june. other than that, i will leave you all to continue arguing and interpreting or translating what the fcc is trying to communicate. we here at uscc have our own problems to worry about like restating and reporting our quarterly results from previous years and the extensions that we have filed with the sec/amex. i will leave you with this. the reason that we are requiring our customers to convert to a gps/e911 capable phone is for..future business ventures.
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Interesting...
Though I don't see how any "future business ventures" as you put it, would impact gps/e911... I can see an impact on CDMA/TDMA/GSM etc... but they are already CDMA. (and there is such a thing as a CDMA phone without GPS, I have it and it is what started this whole mess)
I guess we will just wait and see, since you obviously aren't giving any more information.
Though I don't see how any "future business ventures" as you put it, would impact gps/e911... I can see an impact on CDMA/TDMA/GSM etc... but they are already CDMA. (and there is such a thing as a CDMA phone without GPS, I have it and it is what started this whole mess)
I guess we will just wait and see, since you obviously aren't giving any more information.
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Hi Micah...I work in the call center in Wi and though I haven't actually seen the letter you received, I have heard a lot (good and bad) about it this past week. First of all....please know we at uscc would never want to force our customers to do anything they don't want to do. From what i understand this upgrade for 911 has to due with direct orders from the FCC and we as a comm. co. could be shut down if we don't comply to the terms by a certain date. I also haven't heard of a "substantial fee" or the date in April you mentioned in your earlier post. I can double check on Fri when i return to work for you though. Some carriers automatically have gps built into their network; we unfortunately don't at this time. Our phones have to hav...
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PS. about buying a new phone thru other avenues than USCC...
1). Make sure the phone is actually for USCC. WE CANNOT ACTIVATE OTHER CARRIERS EQUIPMENT EVEN IF ITS THE SAME EXACT BRAND OF PHONE.
2). If you buy from ebay be cautious. There are many great deals out there but before you buy get the serial number (esn number) and call CS 888-944-9400 to verify that esn is clear to activate with us. (not stolen, lost etc.)
Just trying to help ya out. Also realize that when you do upgrade to a newer phone your reception, sound quality, etc. should all improve greatly.
1). Make sure the phone is actually for USCC. WE CANNOT ACTIVATE OTHER CARRIERS EQUIPMENT EVEN IF ITS THE SAME EXACT BRAND OF PHONE.
2). If you buy from ebay be cautious. There are many great deals out there but before you buy get the serial number (esn number) and call CS 888-944-9400 to verify that esn is clear to activate with us. (not stolen, lost etc.)
Just trying to help ya out. Also realize that when you do upgrade to a newer phone your reception, sound quality, etc. should all improve greatly.
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blzd2-
Thanks for the help and advice. I apreciate you taking the time to write, and to look into this.
I do understand that I went from 3000 to Unlimited N&W minutes, but my issue is that 3000 wwas more than enough for me, and it now costs me $5 more. If I get rid of N&W minutes I would run out of anytime minutes very quickly. When I signed a contract I assumed (incorrectly) that the 3000 N&W for $5 was part of that contract, and was frustrated to be told that I essentially had to pay more.
Thanks again for the advise. At least for now I am going to ride this out a little more, and see where things go.
Thanks for the help and advice. I apreciate you taking the time to write, and to look into this.
I do understand that I went from 3000 to Unlimited N&W minutes, but my issue is that 3000 wwas more than enough for me, and it now costs me $5 more. If I get rid of N&W minutes I would run out of anytime minutes very quickly. When I signed a contract I assumed (incorrectly) that the 3000 N&W for $5 was part of that contract, and was frustrated to be told that I essentially had to pay more.
Thanks again for the advise. At least for now I am going to ride this out a little more, and see where things go.
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Your right; i do understand where you are coming from. 3000 is generally more than enough for most people but the main point is that you have more than one user on the account. We just felt it would be better to raise prices (w/ due 30 day written notice) of an optional feature rather than your standard price plan. Again, I will talk to my supervisor on Friday to see if i can find any more info out about the fcc thing as well as possible fees associated. take care!
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jacksback-
Back on March first you said that something major was going to happen at "the end of may or early part of june". We are there, and I haven't heard of anything. Or is this the "Project Heartland" that has been asked about? Any more info?
Back on March first you said that something major was going to happen at "the end of may or early part of june". We are there, and I haven't heard of anything. Or is this the "Project Heartland" that has been asked about? Any more info?
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Please refer to this website: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_05 /47cfr20_05.html
The requirement by the FCC to mandate GPS capable phones.. it is uner the PDF file 20.18 911 on page 2 section G
The requirement by the FCC to mandate GPS capable phones.. it is uner the PDF file 20.18 911 on page 2 section G
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This is the same FCC rule that was quoted before, and the key word in it is "MAY".
Again, a quote from the FCC:
The FCC, in permissive language, has said wireless carriers "MAY [upper case emphasis added] phase in deployment of Phase II enhanced 911 service"
They also said:
...there’s certainly no FCC requirement that a subscriber be "charged a substantial monthly non-compliance fee".
Again, a quote from the FCC:
The FCC, in permissive language, has said wireless carriers "MAY [upper case emphasis added] phase in deployment of Phase II enhanced 911 service"
They also said:
...there’s certainly no FCC requirement that a subscriber be "charged a substantial monthly non-compliance fee".
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My Bad!! This is the information we were given here to explain to customers!
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someone just came up with one of those yellow and black pieces of paper, i told them they could if they wanted to, but i don't think that would be legal for us cellular to bind them to it, but they renewed anyway.
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This is copied from further down the same page... you must've missed this
(v) By December 31, 2005, achieve 95 percent penetration of
location-capable handsets among its subscribers.
Therefore, USCC needed to have 95% of its handsets to get e911 compatible as of the end of last year, and they got in trouble with the FCC for not reaching it. So they had to send out a bunch of letters to people to get them to upgrade
yes, you can stay on your old plan
yes, it sucks you need to give up your Moto V120 or NOkia 5165 or whatever, but generally people are happier with the new phones
yes, it sucks that you may get fined, but the FCC is the one who is requiring it, and they are the ones who will fine USCC for noncompliance, and ...
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(v) By December 31, 2005, achieve 95 percent penetration of
location-capable handsets among its subscribers.
Therefore, USCC needed to have 95% of its handsets to get e911 compatible as of the end of last year, and they got in trouble with the FCC for not reaching it. So they had to send out a bunch of letters to people to get them to upgrade
yes, you can stay on your old plan
yes, it sucks you need to give up your Moto V120 or NOkia 5165 or whatever, but generally people are happier with the new phones
yes, it sucks that you may get fined, but the FCC is the one who is requiring it, and they are the ones who will fine USCC for noncompliance, and ...
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This section (v) is listed under the area that said that carriers "may..." do the following. So from what I was told this is optional.
If, in fact USCC is being charged a fee for not reaching this goal, I still am not sure it is legal of them to pass that along to the customers.
The reasons you mentioned why it isn't a big deal to upgrade, I agree with. Every one of them. But, the one thing you missed was the fact that to do this you need to sign a new contract.
I am at a point right now where I will not sign myself into 2 more years, and that is nothing against USCC.... they have been good to me. But, I have about 6-8 reasons why I don't want to sign a contract right now, and many of them are because of features/coverage/pl...
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If, in fact USCC is being charged a fee for not reaching this goal, I still am not sure it is legal of them to pass that along to the customers.
The reasons you mentioned why it isn't a big deal to upgrade, I agree with. Every one of them. But, the one thing you missed was the fact that to do this you need to sign a new contract.
I am at a point right now where I will not sign myself into 2 more years, and that is nothing against USCC.... they have been good to me. But, I have about 6-8 reasons why I don't want to sign a contract right now, and many of them are because of features/coverage/pl...
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E911 Initiative Update
March 3, 2006
Recently there was an overwhelming response to the E911 initiative and we received some negative feedback from our customers about the "substantial monthly non-compliance fee" as well as the requirement for a contract renewal when upgrading their handset to get the offer. In order to provide the best customer satisfaction, it was decided that further customer communications related to this campaign will be indefinitely postponed. Going forward, customers already targeted in this initiative will not be required to renew their contract when taking advantage of this offer.
Facts about the "substantial monthly non-compliance fee":
The possibility of a future non-compliance fee is not being dir...
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March 3, 2006
Recently there was an overwhelming response to the E911 initiative and we received some negative feedback from our customers about the "substantial monthly non-compliance fee" as well as the requirement for a contract renewal when upgrading their handset to get the offer. In order to provide the best customer satisfaction, it was decided that further customer communications related to this campaign will be indefinitely postponed. Going forward, customers already targeted in this initiative will not be required to renew their contract when taking advantage of this offer.
Facts about the "substantial monthly non-compliance fee":
The possibility of a future non-compliance fee is not being dir...
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Thanks for passing this along. Hopefully customers know that this policy has changed.
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It is mandated by the FCC for everyone on a cellular network to be able to have GPS access on their phones... unfortunately at this time, many USC customers still have older TDMA equipment that does not have this GPS locator in their handset... It would seem unlike USC to use trickery to keep a customer, especially since they are offering those affected by this mandate a free phone with renewal and no $15 equip change fee that a normal customer would have to pay for....
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Here is some additional information from both USCC and the FCC. Based on all of the following there is no doubt in my mind that what USCC was trying to do was not actually mandated by the FCC, and they have now corrected their actions to avoid getting in further trouble with them. There is some speculation on why USCC is doing this, but I will not get into that here, since it really is a separate issue.
(And by the way, I am not intending this to be an "anti-USCC" post, I am simply stating the facts.)
-US Cellular (as other posts have talked about) is no longer requiring a 2 year contract in order to upgrade to GPS phones.
-They are also saying that there will no longer be charging a "substantial monthy fee" if you don't upgrade you...
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(And by the way, I am not intending this to be an "anti-USCC" post, I am simply stating the facts.)
-US Cellular (as other posts have talked about) is no longer requiring a 2 year contract in order to upgrade to GPS phones.
-They are also saying that there will no longer be charging a "substantial monthy fee" if you don't upgrade you...
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They forgot one question!
5. Then why did I get this letter? To try to trick and scare you into a new phone and 2 year contract.
5. Then why did I get this letter? To try to trick and scare you into a new phone and 2 year contract.
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you were not being threatened you were being offered a $ 170.00 -$200.00 phone for a penny
so that if you called 911 for help that you could hopefully be found.Why would you want to keep the old piece of junk phone you had anyway ?If you came in on your own to get a phone it would have cost big time be thankful you can get it for a penny also that old batt wont last forever and batt. sell for around $50.00.also at our store all you had to say was " I dont want to sign a contract " and we would have OK. end of it !!!
so that if you called 911 for help that you could hopefully be found.Why would you want to keep the old piece of junk phone you had anyway ?If you came in on your own to get a phone it would have cost big time be thankful you can get it for a penny also that old batt wont last forever and batt. sell for around $50.00.also at our store all you had to say was " I dont want to sign a contract " and we would have OK. end of it !!!
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Update:
I got another letter in the mail from USCC about the E911 issue. I had previously learned on this forum that USCC was no longer requiring a contract and that there would be no fee if you didn't upgrade... but they actually owned up to their mistake and sent out a letter saying exactly that to everyone.
Good job USCC. I am still not a 100% satisfied customer, but this helped quite a bit.
I got another letter in the mail from USCC about the E911 issue. I had previously learned on this forum that USCC was no longer requiring a contract and that there would be no fee if you didn't upgrade... but they actually owned up to their mistake and sent out a letter saying exactly that to everyone.
Good job USCC. I am still not a 100% satisfied customer, but this helped quite a bit.
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