T-Mobile was hit with a $40 million fine from the FCC.
James Martin/CNET
T-Mobile injected fake ring tones into rural calls that it couldn’t actually connect.
That’s according to the Federal Communications Commission, which fined T-Mobile for the practice, as well as for failing to correct its ongoing problem of connecting calls in rural areas. The nation’s third-largest wireless carrier agreed to pay $40 million to the US Treasury and entered into a settlement to avoid further actions.
“It is a basic tenet of the nation’s phone system that calls be completed to the called party, without a reduction in the call quality — even when the calls pass through intermediate providers,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement on Monday.
The admission of injecting fake rings tones is a black eye for a company that prides itself as more consumer friendly than the competition. T-Mobile CEO John Legere touts the fact that it’s more straight with its customers, part of the “Un-carrier” campaign that’s successfully drawn in new subscribers.
T-Mobile injected false ring tones on many phone calls, letting callers believe the phone was ringing on the other end. The FCC said it leaves a misleading impression that it isn’t the service provider’s fault that the call isn’t connecting. The agency said false ring tones are a problem on calls in rural areas, where the signal may not be adequate.
T-Mobile said the issue was corrected in January 2017, and that the “oversight” was unintentional.
“We have settled this matter — and will continue to focus on our mission to change wireless for good for consumers everywhere,” the company said in a statement.
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