In my 13 years of experience as a senior associate consultant with TMI, I have prepared and processed many telecom tariff filings for some of the biggest telecommunications carriers. Even in this deregulated, detariffed telecommunications industry, customer notice is still a hot topic with the FCC and State Commissions. Most State Commissions require telecommunications carriers to notify affected customers of any price increases or additions of new rates via a bill message, bill insert, or by direct mail. Some states require carriers to file a copy of the customer notice with the tariff revision.
Rule of Thumb:
An example of generic customer notice language that will satisfy most states is:
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RATE INCREASE: Effective MM/DD/YY, (state the service/calling plan and the amount of increase/addition). Visit www.XXXXXXXXX.com or call your local business office for more information. You have the right to cancel the service by calling your local business office. Please call 1-800-XXX-XXXX.
It’s a good idea to mention in tariff filing cover letters that customer notice has been provided to customers even if the State Commission does not require the notice to be sent with the tariff filing. Here’s a quick summary for a CLEC tariff filing in all states.
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