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Wisconsin reaches proposed settlement with T-Mobile

By: Caley Clinton, [email protected]//December 19, 2014//

Wisconsin reaches proposed settlement with T-Mobile

By: Caley Clinton, [email protected]//December 19, 2014//

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T-Mobile USA Inc. has agreed to pay at least $90 million to resolve allegations that the company placed unauthorized charges for third-party services on consumers’ mobile phone bills, a practice known as “cramming.”

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s office announced Wisconsin’s inclusion in the nationwide settlement Friday. The proposed settlement will require T-Mobile to address cramming problems, and requires the company to make payments, credits and debt forgiveness amounting to at least $90 million.

T-Mobile and AT&T Mobility LLC were among the four major mobile carriers, in addition to Verizon and Sprint, that announced they would cease billing customers for commercial messages in the fall of 2013. Van Hollen announced a similar $105 million settlement with AT&T in October.

According to the complaint in the T-Mobile case, the unauthorized charges involved monthly subscription fees, typically $9.99 per month, for content such as ringtones and wallpaper, and for third-party “premium” text message subscription such as horoscopes, trivia and sports scores.

Consumers who have been charged by T-Mobile for such unauthorized charges since June 1, 2010, can file a claim through T-Mobile’s Premium SMS Refund Program.

The $90 million minimum settlement payment includes $18 million that T-Mobile will pay to the states and $4.5 million to the Federal Communications Commission. Under the settlement, according to a release from Van Hollen’s office, Wisconsin will receive $278,094.97, in addition to any amount received by individual consumers under the refund program.

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