Despite having fought tooth and nail to prevent the imposition of number portability, that hasn’t prevented the cellphone carriers from exploiting the FCC’s new rules by using them as an excuse to rip off customers with all sorts of fees and charges. I just noticed noticed the charges on my cellphone bill the other day, and when I called up customer service to ask what they were for, the rep actually had the gall to say that the fees had been “mandated” by the FCC, which is patently untrue. These aren’t taxes and they’re not fees that subscribers agreed to when they signed up for service, and it’s unfair to charge extra for the “privilege” being able to take your number with you should you ever decide to switch carriers. Not everyone’s doing it, but Om Malik has noticed that the carriers who are collecting these surcharges have been raking in a lot of dough.
