BILL REQ. #:  H-3524.1 

Read first time 01/16/12.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, More than two trillion text messages are sent each year in the United States, generating over twenty billion dollars in revenue for the wireless industry; and
     WHEREAS, It costs a wireless company less than a penny to send a single text message, but most wireless companies charge between ten and twenty cents per text message; and
     WHEREAS, At twenty cents and approximately one hundred sixty characters per text message, wireless customers are paying approximately one thousand five hundred dollars to send a megabyte of text traffic over the cellular network; and
     WHEREAS, In comparison, the cost of sending the same amount of data over a wireless company's data network using a twenty-five dollars a month, two gigabyte data plan works out to be about 1.25 cents; and
     WHEREAS, Despite the low cost of sending a text message, market conditions have failed to protect customers from unreasonable rates, as wireless companies have in many instances eliminated previously offered, lower-tier text messaging plans, leaving the consumer little recourse but to sign up for a higher cost text messaging plan or pay an unreasonably high per text message fee; and
     WHEREAS, States have been expressly preempted under federal law from regulating the entry or rates charged by wireless companies, including text messaging services; and
     WHEREAS, To date the Federal Communications Commission has declined to exert jurisdiction over text messaging services;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Federal Communications Commission exercise its authority to regulate the rates charged for text messaging services, or, in the alternative, recognize that market conditions with respect to text messaging services have failed to adequately protect Washington subscribers from unjust and unreasonable rates and therefore authorize the state of Washington and other states to regulate wireless companies with respect to text messaging services.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, each member of the Federal Communications Commission, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.