The Federal Communications Commission handles a wide range of telecommunications service and billing issues. However, some consumer concerns that may seem like they would be handled by the FCC are legally under the jurisdiction of other agencies.
The following are some issues that fall primarily under the jurisdiction of other federal agencies, along with the agencies most involved with those issues:
- For false advertising, deceptive business practices, scams and debt collection, the Federal Trade Commission
- For antitrust law, the Department of Justice
- For disclaimers on medical/drug advertisements, the Federal Food and Drug Administration
- For copyright violations and payments of royalties, the U.S. Copyright Office.
Other issues are primarily handled at the state level by public utility commissions. These include:
- Burial of telephone or cable wires
- No dial tone to local phone service
- Stand-alone satellite TV billing, rates and programming
- Installation of non-bundled service
- Stand-alone cable TV service, rates and programming (not including basic tier)
- Utilities other than telecommunications
To find your state PUC, check the website of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or contact them at (202) 898-2200.
As a public service, the FCC does offer several consumer guides addressing issues for which we do not have primary regulatory jurisdiction. These include: