Three major U.S. carriers have agreed not to charge their customers for premium text messages, which have emerged as a route for unauthorized third-party charges on mobile phone bills.
AT&T Mobility, Sprint and T-Mobile will not charge their customers for commercial Premium Short Messaging Services, which gave users the ability to purchase or subscribe to messaging programs provided by third-party content providers, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said in a statement on Thursday.
Forty-five states, including Vermont, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Oregon, Texas and Washington, have been in discussions aimed at stopping mobile "cramming," which essentially refers to unauthorized third-party charges that appear on mobile phone bills. PSMS account for the majority of third-party charges on cell phones but also for a large majority of cramming complaints, Sorrell said.
Verizon Wireless is winding down its premium messaging business, though it was not part of the announcement by Sorrell. Its General Counsel William B. Petersen said in a statement that the operator had previously decided to exit the premium messaging business because of changes in the ways customers access information as well as recent allegations that third-parties have engaged in improper conduct in providing the premium services to its customers.
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