T-Mobile Fined $40 Million Over False Ringtones In Rural Areas

When it comes to choosing a cell service provider, there are things to consider such as the rates of calls, texts, how much data is given, are there any perks, and more importantly, coverage. For those living in the city this isn’t much of an issue, but for those living out in the more rural parts of the country, reception is important.

Unfortunately for T-Mobile it seems that the carrier has been hit with a $40 million fine by the FCC over false ringtones in rural areas. For those unfamiliar with the case, basically instead of improving the delivery of calls made to rural areas, the FCC claims that T-Mobile instead used fake ringtones to give the caller the impression that his/her calls were going through. However these ringtones was merely a soundclip and the reality was that the call’s connection was never made.

This resulted in the caller thinking that no one was available to answer the call, and also prevented customers from blaming T-Mobile for not connecting the call, in which the reality told a very different story. As the FCC points out, this can be critical as it means that it could prevent doctors from getting to their patients as well as hurting local businesses, and could potentially delay public safety communications.

T-Mobile has since admitted to wrongdoing and will be paying the fine as well as starting a compliance plan.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Legal, T-Mobile