Guest Commentary :
Agencies accountable for cell phone usage

BY HU MEENA

Government agencies’ usage of cellular phones, and what these agencies pay for their service, has received frequent media coverage across Mississippi in recent months.

The wireless industry understands the media’s attention, and appreciates our elected officials’ concern. Taxpayers deserve to know how much their government agencies are paying for service, and the level of service they receive for the dollars spent.

In contrast to years gone by when wireless telecommunication might have been viewed as a luxury, today wireless phones frankly are a necessity for public officials and many government employees. Just as personal computers introduced a new era of productivity and efficiency-enhancing technology, wireless phones are creating a shift in government and business management styles, as well as personal lifestyles.

A recent AARP survey revealed that 38 percent of wireless phone owners under age 50 regard their wireless phone as their primary phone, as do 20 percent of those ages 50 to 64. A recent online poll conducted by Mississippi’s largest newspaper concerning wireless phones resulted in 63 percent (from more than 1,650- plus responses) saying they had considered switching strictly to wireless.

Like those large groups of consumers making and receiving most of their calls wirelessly, many public servants depend on wireless phones as their primary means of communication. They are able to do so because wireless technology now offers stronger service with more complete coverage nationwide, including a critical improvement in in-building coverage. Mobility gives public officials the freedom to leave their offices to handle problems or issues, while remaining accessible, therefore accountable, for the services they are committed to provide.

At the same time, public servants must operate in the same professional, cost-efficient manner as private businesses. City and county administrators have found that while wireless phones keep officials better connected, the addition of wireless phone accounts to government budgets often has led to a question of fiscal accountability. The problem often arises when numerous agency employees – often both elected officials and hired staff – are “covered” under the same plan and their cellular phone time is pulled from a “pool” of minutes.

The end result is that:

• no employee knows how many minutes remain in the plan for the month.
• bills can vary wildly from month to month (sometimes by thousands of dollars) as the agency exceeds its allotted minutes and must pay overage charges.
• government employees opt not to use their wireless phones (thus not accessible to the public) because of fear or running up an expensive cellular phone bill.
• many hours are spent each month scrutinizing and deciphering pages upon pages of billing records to determine if calls placed were work related.

Rate structures in the wireless industry have changed significantly in recent years. With flat rate unlimited calling plans, consumers have the freedom to use their wireless phones just like landlines. For a reasonable cost, they can use their phones as often as they want while still giving those responsible for payment the budget predictability they seek. To borrow an advertising slogan from a national hotel chain, “The best surprise is no surprise.” This certainly is unlike the experience of some individual officials who are encountering $500 monthly cellular bills from their providers.

As the only wireless company headquartered in Mississippi, Cellular South has a strong interest in efficient operations for our local and state public entities. Do we want the various agencies’ business? Certainly. But we also have a uniquely personal sense of responsibility to help local and state governments achieve the efficiencies technology can provide while also meeting their ultimate goal of fiscal responsibility.

All local and state public entities should ask their carriers – or a carrier bidding for their business – for a no-obligations audit and usage analysis of their wireless contracts to make sure they are receiving, and paying for, the plan that provides the best solutions to meet their needs and budgets.

Our elected officials and public servants should treat their work-related cellular phone accounts just as they would their personal accounts. They should seek the best plans, best coverage in their areas at the lowest possible price. Not to do so would be a waste of your and my taxpayer dollars. DBJ

(Hu Meena is president of Jackson-based Cellular South and a board member of the CTIA, the Wireless Association.)

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