| <Your Name> <Your Street Address> <Your City, State, Zip> <Your Phone> <Your e-mail> <Date> Attorney General<Attorney General Name> <Attorney General Address> <Attorney General City, State, Zip> Dear Mr. <attorney general's last name>: I am writing to request that you commence an investigation of Verizon Wireless. I believe that Verizon Wireless is defrauding their subscribers by surreptitiously decreasing the coverage of their calling plans. Verizon is worsening coverage for their America's Choice subscribers after these subscribers committed to a one or two year contract. Verizon signed up millions of subscribers to their America's Choice calling plan. It was an attractive calling plan because it included free roaming onto certain other wireless carriers (Sprint and Alltel) if there was no Verizon signal available. At first, this plan worked as advertised. Recently, Verizon began removing some of the roaming coverage. They are not informing their customers of their actions. They are not giving existing customers the option to cancel service without termination fees, as usually is the case when a wireless carrier makes changes to their calling plans. The way that roaming works is that a CDMA wireless carrier, such as Verizon, programs each cellular phone with a PRL (preferred roaming list). This is a list ofsystem identification numbers (SIDs) that identify each carrier that a CDMA cellular phone can operate on in a given area. The way America's Choice was supposed to work was that if a phone could not find the Verizon network then it would roam, at no extra charge, onto one ofVerizon's roaming partners (Sprint and Alltel). If the phone could not find a roaming partner to roam on then it would roam onto other available networks and the subscriber would be charged a roaming fee. Apparently Verizon soon realized that their own network's coverage was not quite as good as they originally thought; there was too much roaming onto their partner's networks and it was costing them a lot of money. There are two problems that have resulted from the removal of roaming partners: 1. There are geographic areas where there used to be coverage via a roaming partner where there is now no coverage at all. 2. There are areas where Verizon has a network presence, but with a lot of dead spots. Before the removal of the roaming partner, when in a dead spot the phone would roam, as originally intended, onto the partner's network. With the removal of the roaming partner the dead spots now have no coverage at all. Since the launch of America's Choice, Verizon has removed the following roaming coverage:
Verizon's official response is that they are only removing roaming coverage in areas where their own network has coverage. This excuse does not pass the common sense test. The phone will always force the phone use the Verizon network if it is available, even if it is the old AMPS analog network. In short, there is no need to remove roaming capability because the phone will not roam if there is a Verizon signal. Verizon should be required to restore all of the roaming coverage that was in place at the time that they launched the America's Choice Calling Plan. Alternatively,they should be forced to waive termination charges and refund the cost of the phones and accessories (even if not purchased directly from them) for subscribers who wish to cancel service due to the worsening America's Choice coverage. Verizon also should allow subscribers who switched to America's Choice from a different calling plan to go back to their old calling plan, with the same promotions (if any) that were in place, even if that plan is no longer is offered to new subscribers. Verizon should not be allowed to change the terms of a calling plan after a contract has been signed. Again, I request that you begin an investigation of Verizon regarding this issue. Sincerely, <Signature> <Your Name> |
List of Attorney Generals and Public Utilities Commissions
|
Alabama: |
Bill
Pryor
(R) |
(334)
242-7300 |
|
State
House, 11 S. Union St. Montgomery, AL 36130 |
||
|
Alaska: |
Bruce
M. Botelho
(D) |
(907)
465-3500 |
|
P.O.Box
110300, Diamond Courthouse, Juneau, AK 99811-0300 |
||
|
Arizona: |
Janet
Napolitano
(D) |
(602)
542-4266 |
|
1275
W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007 |
||
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|
||
|
Arkansas: |
(800)
482-8982 |
|
|
200
Tower Bldg., 323 Center St., Little Rock, AR 72201-2610 |
||
|
California: |
Bill
Lockyer
(D) |
(916)
445-9555 |
|
1300
I St., Ste. 1740, Sacramento, CA 95814 |
||
|
Colorado: |
Ken
Salazar
(D) |
(303)
866-4500 |
|
Dept.
of Law, 1525 Sherman St., Denver, CO 80203 |
||
|
Connecticut: |
(860)
808-5318 |
|
|
55
Elm St., Hartford, CT 06141-0120 |
||
|
Delaware: |
M.
Jane Brady
(R) |
(302)
577-8338 |
|
Carvel
State Office Bldg., 820 N. French St., Wilmington, DE 19801 |
||
|
District
of Columbia: |
(202)
724-1305 |
|
|
Office
of the Corporation Counsel, 441 4th St., NW, Washington, DC 20001 |
||
|
Florida: |
(850)
487-1963 |
|
|
The
Capitol, PL 01, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050 |
||
|
Georgia: |
(404)
656-3300 |
|
|
40
Capitol Square, SW, Atlanta, GA 30334-1300 |
||
|
Hawaii: |
Earl
I. Anzai
(D) |
(808)
587-3100 |
|
425
Queen St., Honolulu, HI 96813 |
||
|
Idaho: |
Alan
G. Lance
(R) |
(208)
334-2400 |
|
Statehouse,
Boise, ID 83720-1000 |
||
|
Illinois: |
Jim
Ryan
(R) |
(312)
854-2503 |
|
James
R. Thompson Ctr., 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601 |
||
|
|
||
|
Indiana: |
Steve
Carter
(R) |
(317)
232-6201 |
|
Indiana
Government Center South - 5th Floor, 402 West Washington Street,
Indianapolis, IN 46204 |
||
|
|
||
|
Iowa: |
Tom
Miller
(D) |
(515)
281-5164 |
|
Hoover
State Office Bldg., 1305 E. Walnut, Des Moines, IA 50319 |
||
|
|
||
|
Kansas: |
Carla
J. Stovall
(R) |
(785)
296-2215 |
|
120
S.W. 10th Ave., 2nd Fl., Topeka, KS 66612-1597 |
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|
|
||
|
Kentucky: |
(502)
696-5300 |
|
|
State
Capitol, Rm. 116, Frankfort, KY 40601 |
||
|
Louisiana: |
(225)
342-7013 |
|
|
Dept.
of Justice, P.O.Box 94095, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4095 |
||
|
|
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|
Maine: |
G.
Steven Rowe
(D) |
(207)
626-8800 |
|
State
House Station 6, Augusta, ME 04333 |
||
|
Maryland: |
(410)
576-6300 |
|
|
200
St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202-2202 |
||
|
Massachusetts: |
Tom
Reilly
(D) |
(617)
727-2200 |
|
1
Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108-1698 |
||
|
Michigan: |
(517)
373-1110 |
|
|
P.O.Box
30212, 525 W. Ottawa St., Lansing, MI 48909-0212 |
||
|
Minnesota: |
Mike
Hatch
(D) |
(651)
296-3353 |
|
State
Capitol, Ste. 102, St. Paul, MN 55155 |
||
|
Mississippi: |
Mike
Moore
(D) |
(601)
359-3680 |
|
Dept.
of Justice, P.O.Box 220, Jackson, MS 39205-0220 |
||
|
Missouri: |
(573)
751-3321 |
|
|
Supreme
Ct. Bldg., 207 W. High St., Jefferson City, MO 65101 |
||
|
Montana: |
Mike
McGrath
(D) |
(406)
444-2026 |
|
Justice
Bldg., 215 N. Sanders, Helena, MT 59620-1401 |
||
|
Nebraska: |
Don
Stenberg
(R) |
(402)
471-2682 |
|
State
Capitol, P.O.Box 98920, Lincoln, NE 68509-8920 |
||
|
Nevada: |
(775)
684-1100 |
|
|
Old
Supreme Ct. Bldg., 100 N. Carson St., Carson City, NV 89701 |
||
|
New
Hampshire: |
(603)
271-3658 |
|
|
State
House Annex, 25 Capitol St., Concord, NH 03301-6397 |
||
|
New
Jersey: |
(609)
292-8740 |
|
|
Richard
J. Hughes Justice Complex, 25 Market St., CN 080, Trenton, NJ 08625 |
||
|
New
Mexico: |
(505)
827-6000 |
|
|
P.O.
Drawer 1508, Sante Fe, NM 87504-1508 |
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|
New
York: |
Eliot
Spitzer
(D) |
(518)
474-7330 |
|
Dept.
of Law - The Capitol, 2nd fl., Albany, NY 12224 |
||
|
North
Carolina: |
Roy
Cooper
(D) |
(919)
716-6400 |
|
Dept.
of Justice, P.O.Box 629, Raleigh, NC 27602-0629 |
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|
North
Dakota: |
Wayne
Stenehjem
(R) |
(701)
328-2210 |
|
State
Capitol, 600 E. Boulevard Ave., Bismarck, ND 58505-0040 |
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|
Ohio: |
(614)
466-4320 |
|
|
State
Office Tower, 30 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43266-0410 |
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|
Oklahoma: |
(405)
521-3921 |
|
|
State
Capitol, Rm. 112, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105 |
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|
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|
Oregon: |
Hardy
Myers
(D) |
(503)
378-4732 |
|
Justice
Bldg., 1162 Court St., NE, Salem, OR 97301 |
||
|
Pennsylvania: |
Mike
Fisher
(R) |
(717)
787-3391 |
|
Strawberry
Square, Harrisburg, PA 17120 |
||
|
Rhode
Island: |
(401)
274-4400 |
|
|
150
S. Main St., Providence, RI 02903 |
||
|
South
Carolina: |
Charlie
Condon
(R) |
(803)
734-4399 |
|
Rembert
C. Dennis Office Bldg., P.O.Box 11549, Columbia, SC 29211-1549 |
||
|
South
Dakota: |
Mark
Barnett
(R) |
(605)
773-3215 |
|
500
E. Capitol, Pierre, SD 57501-5070 |
||
|
Tennessee: |
Paul
G. Summers
(D) |
(615)
741-5860 |
|
500
Charlotte Ave., Nashville, TN 37243 |
||
|
Texas: |
John
Cornyn
(R) |
(512)
463-2100 |
|
Capitol
Station, P.O.Box 12548, Austin, TX 78711-2548 |
||
|
Utah: |
Mark
Shurtleff
(R) |
(801)
538-9600 |
|
State
Capitol, Rm. 236, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-0810 |
||
|
Vermont: |
(802)
828-3173 |
|
|
109
State St., Montpelier, VT 05609-1001 |
||
|
Virginia: |
Jerry
Kilgore
(R) |
(804)
786-2071 |
|
900
E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219 |
||
|
|
||
|
Washington: |
(360)
753-6200 |
|
|
P.O.Box
40100, 1125 Washington St., SE, Olympia, WA 98504-0100 |
||
|
West
Virginia: |
(304)
558-2021 |
|
|
State
Capitol, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. , E., Charleston, WV 25305 |
||
|
Wisconsin: |
James
E. Doyle
(D) |
(608)
266-1221 |
|
State
Capitol, Ste. 114 E., P.O.Box 7857, Madison, WI 53707-7857 |
||
|
|
||
|
Wyoming: |
Hoke
MacMillan
(R) |
(307)
777-7841 |
|
State
Capitol Bldg., Cheyenne, WY 82002 |
||
|
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