Mobile Phone Connection Problems

Although mobile phones have slowly taken over in the U.S. – an estimated 91% of American adults own mobile phones, up from 88% in 2012, and about 60% own “smartphones” – we still remain prone to a variety of unwanted intrusions through these devices, as well as technical problems, which were the subject of a major study in 2012 by the Pew Research Center. Its “Internet & American Life Project” focused on four common problems we still face today: dropped calls, unwanted sales/marketing calls, unwanted spam text messages, and slow download speeds.-The report estimated that about 72% of cell phone users experience a dropped call “at least occasionally,” while about 32% experience dropped calls a few times per week or more.-About 68% of cell phone users have received an unwanted sales/marketing call, and about 25% receive unwanted sales/marketing calls a few times per week or more.-Of the 80% of cell phone users who use text messaging, about 70% of these receive recurring unwanted spam text messages, and 25% receive these messages on a weekly basis.-Of the 55% of cell phone users who go online via their phones (internet, e-mail, apps, etc.), about 77% of these experience slow/inefficient download speeds for content, and 40 – 46% experience slow/inefficient speeds on a weekly basis.These estimates were weighted averages between normal mobile phones and “smartphones,” and smartphone owners were found to be more prone to these problems than owners of other mobile phones. Based on a frequency of “at least weekly,” dropped calls affected 35% of smartphone owners as opposed to 28% of other cell owners; unwanted sales/marketing calls affected 26% of smartphone owners and 23% of others; unwanted spam text messages affected 29% of smartphone owners and 20% of others; and slow download speeds affected 49% of smartphone owners and 31% of others.The report also found that black and Hispanic cell owners may be more prone to these four problems than their white counterparts, for unknown reasons; for example, about 53% of Hispanic cell owners who go online via their phones faced slow download speeds at least weekly, compared to only 44% for white cell owners, and dropped calls affected 41% of black and 39% of Hispanic cell owners at least weekly compared to only 30% of white cell owners.The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) restricts telephone solicitations, the use of automated telephone equipment, and unsolicited advertisements, such as spam text messages. We will aggressively enforce the law to stop the use of automatic dialing systems, prerecorded messages, unsolicited text messages (spam text messages), and junk faxes. Not only will we stop the robocalls, texts, and faxes, but you may be entitled to money damages, too. Damages under the TCPA range from $500.00 – $1,500.00 per robocall, text, or fax.