10. Assignment of Proceeding
Geoffrey F. Brown is the Assigned Commissioner and Glen Walker is the assigned Administrative Law Judge in this proceeding.
1. Thousands of SBC customers in California are being subjected to toll charges on their telephone bills when they use an AOL access number to connect to the Internet.
2. UCAN filed this complaint against SBC and AOL alleging that those companies through their action or inaction were responsible for unauthorized toll charges pursuant to Pub. Util. Code §§ 2889.9 and 2890.
3. To determine the cause of these unintended toll charges, SBC on February 1, 2003, began a trial program offering a one-time credit of up to $500 to its customers who experienced toll charges as a result of contacting their ISP.
4. The SBC trial program was discontinued after six weeks, by which time SBC had adjusted the accounts of 2,242 customers who had complained of ISP toll charges, eliminating $325,524 in toll charges.
5. During the trial program, SBC surveyed 172 customers and learned that 65% of the customers used AOL as their ISP; that 64% of the customers had themselves selected their dial-up access numbers; that 84% had selected the access numbers from an on-line menu or directly from their ISP; and that 90% either had not verified that their access numbers were toll-free or did not know whether they had verified the numbers.
6. Of the 172 customers surveyed by SBC, 171 said the toll charges stopped as a result of some action taken by their ISP or by the customer changing the dial-up numbers.
7. AOL reserves the right to appeal the ALJ Ruling of August 14, 2003, regarding jurisdiction, but does not do so at this time because of its proposed settlement agreement with UCAN.
8. Under the proposed settlement agreement between UCAN and SBC, SBC agrees to monitor the more than 500 AOL access numbers in California and notify customers when their AOL access numbers exceed more than $50 in toll charges, instructing the customers to correct their access numbers if those numbers were intended to be toll-free.
9. In the first month of the SBC program, between April 1 and April 26, 2004, SBC sent 4,748 letters to customers notifying them that their AOL access charges had exceeded $50.
10. Under the proposed settlement agreement between UCAN and AOL, AOL agrees to use best efforts to begin asking new subscribers to give both their area code and first 3 digits of their telephone numbers that they intend to use for dial-up service to AOL. Use of both the area code and first 3 digits of a telephone number will enable AOL to provide a list of AOL access numbers more likely to be toll-free.
11. AOL in its proposed settlement agreement agrees that if it has not implemented a 6-digit sign-up program by the end of 2005, it will deposit $75,000 to a consumer education fund to be approved by the Commission.
12. The Commission has dealt with numerous complaints by consumers contesting toll charges for calls to an ISP access number and, in most of these cases, has found against the telephone company and in favor of consumers.
1. The proposed settlement agreement between UCAN and SBC is reasonable in light of the whole record, consistent with the law, and in the public interest. It should be approved.
2. The proposed settlement agreement between UCAN and AOL is reasonable in light of the whole record, consistent with the law, and in the public interest. It should be approved.
3. UCAN's motion for sanctions against SBC and AOL is withdrawn.
4. C.02-07-044 should be closed, without prejudice to refiling if AOL is unable to implement a 6-digit access number requirement by the end of 2005.
5. Because of the public interest in promptly implementing these settlements, today's order should be made effective immediately.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. The proposed settlement agreement between the Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) and SBC California (SBC), attached hereto and made part hereof as Exhibit 1, is approved.
2. The proposed settlement agreement between UCAN and America Online, Inc. (AOL), attached hereto and made part hereof as Exhibit 3, is approved.
3. SBC shall notify the Director of the Commission's Telecommunications Division and UCAN, in writing, at least 60 days prior to terminating its early warning program for AOL access numbers in California.
4. AOL shall notify the Director of the Commission's Telecommunications Division, in writing, on a quarterly basis, of AOL's progress in implementing a 6-digit access number identifier system.
5. The Commission's Executive Director shall serve by electronic mail a Notice of Availability of this decision on all certificated California local exchange service providers. The Notice of Availability shall briefly summarize this decision and provide a link to the decision on the Commission's website.
6. Case 02-07-044 is closed, without prejudice to refiling by UCAN if AOL is unable to implement a 6-digit access number identifier system by the end of 2005.
This order is effective today.
Dated _____________________, at San Francisco, California.
