Cramming and Third Party Billing on Mobile Phones: Analyses & Perspectives (Business Issues, Competition and Entrepreneurship)

For several decades, phone companies have allowed third-party vendors to charge consumers on their phone bills for goods and services unrelated to phone service, such as photo storage, voicemail, and faxes. This practice began with landline phone bills and continued on wireless phone bills as consumer use of mobile phones increased. Throughout this period, the industry has assured the public that its self-regulatory system is effective at protecting consumers from fraudulent third-party billing on their phone bills. However, this Committee's 2010-2011 review of third-party billing practices on landline phones showed that widespread unauthorised charges -- known as "cramming" -- had been placed on phone bills and had likely cost consumers billions of dollars over the preceding decades. In light of these findings, and emerging reports of cramming in the wireless context, the Committee subsequently began reviewing third-party billing practices on wireless phone bills. This book provides and analyses and perspectives on cramming and third party billing on mobile phones.