WASHINGTON-The wireless industry has asked the Federal Communications Commission for a ruling that would shield mobile-phone carriers in the future from class-action lawsuits challenging early termination fees assessed against subscribers who break their contracts with service providers.
CTIA, the national cell-phone trade group, said FCC must act quickly to declare that ETF suits in state courts are pre-empted by federal law.
“Discovery is now going forward in some of these cases, and wireless carriers are being forced to produce cost data, expert evaluations of their rates and rate structures, and economic justifications for the existence and size of the ETF,” CTIA stated. “The fact that discovery in these cases closely resembles a traditional ‘cost of service’ rate case under state regulation of intrastate wireline services powerfully illustrates why these lawsuits are nothing more than a form of state regulation expressly pre-empted by Section 332.”
Section 332 bans states from regulating rates and market entry of commercial wireless carriers, but leaves to states jurisdiction of other terms and conditions of wireless service. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have argued ETFs violate various state laws.
CTIA, noting that a similar petition was filed by SunCom Operating Co L.L.C. in connection with an ETF class-action suit in South Carolina, asked the FCC to consolidate both petitions.
Other ETF lawsuits are pending against mobile-phone carriers in California, Florida and Illinois, according to CTIA.
