Late Tuesday afternoon, the FCC announced it signed a consent decree (PDF) with AT&T in which the telecom company promised to refund consumers who had been unfairly pushed from a pay-as-you-go wireless data plan to a monthly data plan. AT&T instated the monthly data plan in 2009, but promised customers who were already buying wireless data through AT&T that they would be "grandfathered" into the new pricing structure, thus keeping their lower data rates.
The FCC says it spent a year investigating "complaints that the company switched certain consumers to its mandatory monthly wireless data plans even though it had promised they could retain their existing pay-as-you-go data plans." The commission said AT&T applied the new price structure to people who had replaced their phones under warranty or insurance, or moved to new areas of the US. AT&T specifically promised not to enforce price tiers on those customers.
As part of AT&T's consent decree, it will refund customers who had been unfairly charged up to $30 per month (depending on their data use, of course) and it will pay $700,000 to the US Treasury. "AT&T has also agreed to an extensive compliance plan, which includes: consumer notification, training of customer care representatives, and periodic compliance reports to the FCC," the FCC's press release read. AT&T must also perform extra audits of its records to find improperly charged customers.
Michele Ellison, Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, gave a written statement. "We strongly encourage AT&T subscribers to check their bills closely and contact the company if they spot any overcharges related to wireless data."
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