Cell phone owners could get an extra $50 on top of cell phone bills
Cell phone companies have come under fire from lawmakers for raising their rates to make it more cost-effective for consumers to keep their phones charged.
However, the Federal Communications Commission says that the rate hikes aren’t necessary.
Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Powell said Monday that the agency’s new rates are intended to help consumers avoid paying more than the full price of a phone, even if it’s a brand-new phone.
In a statement, Powell said the agency has “decided to not apply the existing, old, or temporary caps to the costs of the mobile devices we have authorized to be used as cellular services.”
Consumers will still pay the full amount they pay for their mobile devices, Powell added.
He said that the new rate increase will apply to all customers regardless of whether they buy a new phone.
He didn’t provide any other details about how much consumers will have to pay.
The FCC’s decision follows similar actions taken by the other major wireless carriers in recent months.
Sprint and T-Mobile are both moving to make cell phone rates cheaper by increasing the number of devices they are selling at the same time.
The move to increase prices comes amid growing competition from newer and cheaper cell phone providers like Verizon and AT&T.