FCC Chairman Wants Rules to Prevent Cell Phone 'Bill Shock'

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing new rules to force wireless companies to alert consumers before and when they start incurring excess charges.

(Getty Images)

FCC Seeks New Rules for Wireless Providers

The AT&T and Apple data plan for the iPad, for example, has an automatic notification system that notifies users when they near the limit their usage plan.

But Genachowski insists wireless companies that provide notifications and tools for users to track their monthly usage are "the exception, not the rule."

"It needs to be the rule, not the exception, and that's what we're driving toward," he said.

The proposed new requirements are part of a broader crackdown by Genachowski and the Commission on cell phone companies, whose practices have given rise to a flood of consumer complaints in recent months.

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The FCC said last week that it has been investigating Verizon Wireless for a $1.99-a-megabyte data access fee that had appeared on the bills of customers who didn't have data plans but who had accidentally initiated data or Web access by pressing a button on their phones.

Verizon Wireless said that it had stopped charging such fees when a customer started using a data service and then shut it off quickly. It blamed the continued overcharging on a software glitch and has agreed to pay up to $90 million in refunds to affected consumers.

ABC News' Enjoli Francis contributed to this report.