Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 97 / Thursday, May 20, 2010 / Notices 28249 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[CG Docket No. 09–158; DA 10–803] 

Comment Sought on Measures 

Designed To Assist U.S. Wireless 

Consumers To Avoid ‘‘Bill Shock’’ 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the 

Commission seeks to gather information 

on the feasibility of instituting usage 

alerts and cut-off mechanisms similar to 

those required under the European 

Union (EU) regulations that would 

provide wireless voice, text, and data 

consumers in the United States a way to 

monitor, on a real-time basis, their usage 

of a wireless communications service, as 

well as the various charges they may 

incur in connection with such usage 

(e.g., roaming services, voice service 

‘‘minute plans,’’ text message plans). 

Specifically, the Commission seeks 

comment on whether technological or 

other differences exist that would 

prevent wireless providers in this 

country from employing similar usage 

controls as those now required by the 

EU. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

July 6, 2010. Reply comments are due 

on or before July 19, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may 

submit comments and reply comments 

identified by [CG Docket No. 09–158], 

by any of the following methods: 

• Electronic Filers: Comments may be 

filed electronically using the Internet by 

accessing the Commission’s Electronic 

comment Filing System (ECFS), through 

the Commission’s Web site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/, or the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Filers should 

follow the instructions provided on the 

Web site for submitting comments. 

• For ECFS filers, in completing the 

transmittal screen, filers should include 

their full name, U.S. Postal Service 

mailing address, and the applicable 

docket number, which in this instance 

is [CG Docket No. 09–158]. Parties may 

also submit an electronic comment by 

Internet e-mail. To get filing 

instructions, filers should send an email to ecfs@fcc.gov, and include the 

following words in the body of the 

message, ‘‘get form <your e-mail 

address>.’’ A sample form and 

directions will be sent in response. 

• Paper Filers: Parties who choose to 

file by paper must file an original and 

four copies of each filing. Filings can be 

sent by hand or messenger delivery, by 

commercial overnight courier, or by 

first-class or overnight U.S. Postal 

Service mail (although the Commission 

continues to experience delays in 

receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All 

filings must be addressed to the 

Commission’s Secretary, Office of the 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

• All hand-delivered or messengerdelivered paper filings for the 

Commission’s Secretary must be 

delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 

12th St., SW., Room TW–A325, 

Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours 

are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries 

must be held together with rubber bands 

or fasteners. Any envelopes must be 

disposed of before entering the building. 

• Commercial overnight mail (other 

than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail 

and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 

East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, 

MD 20743. 

• U.S. Postal Service first-class, 

Express, and Priority mail should be 

addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard D. Smith, Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Policy 

Division, at (717) 338–2797 (voice), or 

e-mail Richard.Smith@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In its 2009 

Consumer Information and Disclosure 

NOI, the Commission sought comment 

on potential opportunities for protecting 

and empowering American consumers 

by ensuring access to relevant 

information about communications 

services. 

See 2009 Consumer Information and 

Disclosure; Truth-in-Billing and Billing 

Format; IP–Enabled Services, CG Docket 

No. 09–158; CC Docket No. 98–870; WC 

Docket No. 04–36, Notice of Inquiry, 24 

FCC Rcd 11380 (2009) (2009 Consumer 

Information and Disclosure NOI). This 

is a summary of the Commission’s 

Public Notice DA 10–803. Pursuant to 

47 CFR 1.415 and 1.419 of the 

Commission’s rules, interested parties 

may file comments and reply comments 

on or before the dates indicated above. 

This proceeding shall be treated as a 

permit-but-disclose proceeding under 

the ex parte rules, which are codified at 

47 CFR 1.1200(a) and 1.1206. Therefore, 

ex parte presentations will be allowed 

but must be disclosed in accordance 

with the requirements of § 1.1206(b) of 

the Commission’s Rules, 47 CFR 

1.1206(b). Persons making oral ex parte 

presentations are reminded that 

memoranda summarizing the 

presentations must contain summaries 

of the substance of the presentations 

and not merely a listing of the subjects 

discussed. More than a one or two 

sentence description of the views and 

arguments presented is generally 

required. See 47 CFR 1.1206(b). Other 

rules pertaining to oral and written ex 

parte presentations in permit-butdisclose proceedings are set forth in 

§ 1.1206(b) of the Commission’s rules, 

47 CFR 1.1206(b). 

The full text of document DA 10–803 

and any subsequently filed documents 

in this matter will be available for 

public inspection and copying during 

regular business hours at the FCC 

Reference Information Center, Portals II, 

445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–A257, 

Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418–0270. 

Document DA 10–803 and any 

subsequently filed documents in this 

matter may also be purchased from the 

Commission’s duplicating contractor at 

the contractor’s Web site, http:// 

www.bcpiweb.com, or by calling (800) 

378–3160. Furthermore, document DA 

10–803 and any subsequently filed 

documents in this matter may be found 

by searching ECFS at http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs (insert [CG Docket 

No. 09–158] into the Proceeding block). 

To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(Braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an e-mail to 

fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer 

and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 

(202) 418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432 

(TTY). Document DA 10–803 can also 

be downloaded in Word or Portable 

Document Format (PDF) at: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/headlines.html. 

Synopsis 

In the 2009 Consumer Information 

and Disclosure NOI, the Commission 

sought comment on potential 

opportunities for protecting and 

empowering American consumers by 

ensuring access to relevant information 

about communications services. Among 

other things, the Commission noted that 

advances in technology, including usage 

alerts delivered via text message, other 

usage controls, and online comparison 

tools, offer ‘‘new opportunities to 

improve the kind and degree of 

information available to consumers.’’ On 

the issue of usage alerts, the 

Commission asked whether consumers 

can be provided with ‘‘more useful 

information about their service usage 

once they are using a plan to prevent 

them from incurring unexpected 

charges, or to adjust their plan as their 

usage patterns change.’’ It also sought 

information concerning how 

widespread the practice of usage alerts 

is and, where such controls are used, 

whether the consumer is alerted prior to 

incurring additional charges, or only 


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28250 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 97 / Thursday, May 20, 2010 / Notices 

after the consumer has exceeded some 

threshold level of charges or minutes. 

Finally, the Commission sought 

comment on the level of cost detail 

typically included in usage alert 

messages. 

In June 2009, the EU adopted 

regulations governing the transparency 

of retail roaming charges incurred by 

European wireless customers for voice 

calls, text messaging, and data services 

when traveling to other EU markets. 

Certain of these provisions, commonly 

referred to as the ‘‘bill shock’’ provisions, 

are designed to ensure that a consumer 

is fully aware of the roaming charges he 

or she is incurring so that the consumer 

does not receive a higher than expected 

bill for these services. A number of EU 

mobile service providers had already 

implemented procedures to combat the 

problem of ‘‘bill shock’’ prior to the 

adoption of the June 2009 regulations. 

Under the new EU regulations, when a 

wireless consumer places a voice call or 

text message in an EU market other than 

the consumer’s home market, the 

consumer’s home market provider must 

send to the consumer, free of charge, a 

text message detailing roaming prices 

for sending and receiving voice calls 

and text messages. The consumer may 

elect not to receive this automatic 

notification service, but the service must 

be provided again, free of charge, upon 

request by the consumer. The new EU 

regulations also require that wireless 

providers notify a consumer using a 

data roaming service when the 

consumer has reached 80 percent of an 

agreed upon limit (either a default limit 

or a customer-designated limit). When a 

consumer exceeds the established 

monetary or volume roaming limit, the 

provider must send another notification 

explaining the applicable costs and 

procedures if the consumer wishes to 

continue using the data roaming service. 

At that point, the provider must cease 

providing the service pending further 

instruction from the consumer. 

In this document, the Commission 

seeks to gather information on the 

feasibility of instituting usage alerts and 

cut-off mechanisms similar to those 

required under the EU regulations that 

would provide wireless voice, text, and 

data consumers in the United States a 

way to monitor, on a real-time basis, 

their usage of a wireless 

communications service, as well as the 

various charges they may incur in 

connection with such usage (e.g., 

roaming services, voice service ‘‘minute 

plans,’’ text message plans). Specifically, 

the Commission seeks comment on 

whether technological or other 

differences exist that would prevent 

wireless providers in this country from 

employing similar usage controls as 

those now required by the EU. 

The Commission also seeks comment 

on the extent to which consumers 

currently have the means at their 

disposal to monitor their wireless usage 

and are fully aware of the consequences 

of exceeding their predetermined 

allocations of voice minutes, text 

message limits, or data usage. To what 

extent are U.S. providers already 

offering such features, and at what cost 

to the consumer and/or to the provider? 

Do certain usage controls lend 

themselves more to one type of service 

(such as voice) than to another (such as 

data)? To what extent is such 

information currently accessible via 

wireless devices by people with 

disabilities, and in particular by people 

who are blind or low vision who need 

on-screen text and other visual 

indicators to be accompanied by audio 

output? Would a requirement for certain 

types of usage controls prevent or help 

consumers with hearing, visual, 

cognitive or other disabilities in 

receiving the information they need to 

effectively monitor their usage? The 

Commission seeks comment on these 

and other issues relevant to whether it 

should adopt usage control measures 

that will help consumers to avoid 

receiving higher than expected bills for 

their wireless communications services. 

All comments should refer to CG 

Docket No. 09–158. Further, the 

Commission strongly encourages parties 

to develop responses that adhere to the 

organization and structure of the 

questions in the Public Notice DA 

10–803. 

Colleen Heitkamp, 

Division Chief, Consumer and Governmental 

Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2010–12140 Filed 5–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and 

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies 

The companies listed in this notice 

have applied to the Board for approval, 

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company 

Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) 

(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR Part 

225), and all other applicable statutes 

and regulations to become a bank 

holding company and/or to acquire the 

assets or the ownership of, control of, or 

the power to vote shares of a bank or 

bank holding company and all of the 

banks and nonbanking companies 

owned by the bank holding company, 

including the companies listed below. 

The applications listed below, as well 

as other related filings required by the 

Board, are available for immediate 

inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank 

indicated. The applications also will be 

available for inspection at the offices of 

the Board of Governors. Interested 

persons may express their views in 

writing on the standards enumerated in 

the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the 

proposal also involves the acquisition of 

a nonbanking company, the review also 

includes whether the acquisition of the 

nonbanking company complies with the 

standards in section 4 of the BHC Act 

(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise 

noted, nonbanking activities will be 

conducted throughout the United States. 

Additional information on all bank 

holding companies may be obtained 

from the National Information Center 

website at www.ffiec.gov/nic/. 

Unless otherwise noted, comments 

regarding each of these applications 

must be received at the Reserve Bank 

indicated or the offices of the Board of 

Governors not later than June 12, 2010. 

A. Federal Reserve Bank of 

Richmond (A. Linwood Gill, III, Vice 

President) 701 East Byrd Street, 

Richmond, Virginia 23261-4528: 

1. Cordia Bancorp Inc., Washington, 

DC; to become a bank holding company 

through the acqusition of up to 52.3 

percent of the voting shares of Bank of 

Virginia, Midlothian, Virginia. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, May 14, 2010. 

Robert deV. Frierson, 

Deputy Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2010–12025 Filed 5–19–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S 

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION 

Ocean Transportation Intermediary 

License Applicants 

Notice is hereby given that the 

following applicants have filed with the 

Federal Maritime Commission an 

application for a license as a NonVessel-Operating Common Carrier 

(NVO) and/or Ocean Freight Forwarder 

(OFF)—Ocean Transportation 

Intermediary (OTI) pursuant to section 

19 of the Shipping Act of 1984 as 

amended (46 U.S.C. Chapter 409 and 46 

CFR part 515). Notice is also hereby 

given of the filing of applications to 

amend an existing OTI license or the 

Qualifying Individual (QI) for a license. 

Interested persons may contact the 

Office of Transportation Intermediaries, 

Federal Maritime Commission, 

Washington, DC 20573. 

Allround Logistics Inc. (OFF & NVO), 

1809 Fashion Court, Suite 101, Joppa, 


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