During his Wednesday speech at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski said that his agency will Thursday consider new regulations that prevent what it terms as “bill shocks” to mobile phone subscribers.

Back in May, the FCC had opened an inquiry into “bill shocks” which occur when customers are surprised by a sudden, startling increase – which Genachowski said could be “by, hundreds, or thousands of dollars” - in their monthly mobile phone bills, even though they may have not made any change to their service plans.

Addressing the audience, Genachowski said that some common cases of “bill shocks” are “when a subscriber is charged for unknowingly exceeding his or her allotments for voice, text or data, or gets hit with roaming charges that are unexpected.”

Noting that an FCC survey has found one in six mobile subscribers had, at some time or the other, experienced some degree of “bill shock”, Genachowski apecified that his agency is seeking protections that require service providers to send text or voice alerts to customers when their monthly voice and data plans are nearing their limit, or when they may be about to incur roaming charges.

Adding that such protections are common in other countries, Genachowski elaborated the need of such safeguards, saying: “Most people don't know what a megabyte is. But they do understand when they get an alert telling them they're about to go over their limit and incur additional fees.”