A class action lawsuit has been filed against Washington/Baltimore Cellular L.P.-doing business as Cellular One-alleging that the company is attempting to levy increased interconnection fees on its subscribers in violation of their service contracts.
The plaintiff attorneys, Ward, Kershaw & Milton, filed the lawsuit Dec. 19 with the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Md.
Cellular One customers have been charged 10 cents for each phone call completed from a cellular telephone to a local landline phone number with the carrier claiming this was a “pass through” of a charge it was assessed by the local landline service providers, the attorneys allege in the lawsuit.
But beginning in October, Cellular One allegedly began charging its customers 12 cents per minute for those landline terminations. The lawsuit also alleges that Cellular One began charging 12 cents for all calls to its customers’ cellular telephones and voice mail as well as for all calls from customers into their own voice mail to pick up messages, whether they were calling from a Cellular One phone or not, and for otherwise free calls to numbers listed as such in a Cellular One brochure.
The lawsuit claims breach of contract.
But Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, which owns the majority of the Washington Cellular One operation, said customers were told in October of the increased interconnection charges.
“Some of the numbers in the lawsuit may sound very small-10 cents, 12 cents and 2 cents,” said plaintiff attorney John Ward. “But when those numbers are multiplied by the tens of thousands of customers and hundreds of thousands of phone calls, the amount of money transferred from the pockets of its customers to Cellular One’s coffers is potentially enormous. This is a situation which class actions were designed to deal with.”
Such a small increase might not be discovered at all unless the subscriber reads an itemized bill. Ward said he believes that 80 to 85 percent of Cellular One customers do not get itemized bills primarily because the carrier charges an extra $3 per month to send one out.
Ward said one client-who does receive an itemized bill-noticed that his service charges were “going through the roof” and demanded an explanation from the carrier. Ward said no satisfactory explanation was given and so the lawsuit was filed.
Cellular One spokesman Walter Patterson said, “In October we notified our customers (via bill insert) that the 10-cent interconnection fee would be changed. This is our first increase in 11 years.”
He also noted that the carrier has made significant improvements in customer service during that time period. Patterson said Southwestern Bell is researching the lawsuit and had no comment.
The plaintiffs are asking for restitution of the charges, $10 million in punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.
Ward said the class size for the lawsuit may be as large as 150,000 subscribers. The carrier provides cellular service in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
