§ 535a. Termination or suspension of contracts for cellular telephone service

(a) In general. A servicemember who receives orders to deploy outside of the continental United States for not less than 90 days or for a permanent change of duty station within the United States may request the termination or suspension of any contract for cellular telephone service entered into by the servicemember before the date of the commencement of such deployment or permanent change if the servicemember's ability to satisfy the contract or to utilize the service will be materially affected by such deployment or permanent change. The request shall include a copy of the servicemember's military orders.

(B ) Relief. Upon receiving the request of a servicemember under subsection (a), the cellular telephone service contractor concerned shall--
(1) grant the requested relief without imposition of an early termination fee for termination of the contract or a reactivation fee for suspension of the contract; or
(2) in the case that such servicemember is deployed outside the continental United States as described in subsection (a), permit the servicemember to suspend the contract at no charge until the end of the deployment without requiring, whether as a condition of suspension or otherwise, that the contract be extended.

(C ) Cellular telephone service defined. In this section, the term "cellular telephone service" has the meaning given the term "commercial mobile service" in section 332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 USC 332(d)).

Courtesy of the Camp Lejeune, NC Marine Staff Judge Advocate Offices:

CELL PHONE SERVICE SUSPENSION


In connection with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, many service members asked their cell phone service providers to suspend their service for the duration of the deployment. The service member was not allowed to bring the cell phone with him, so it made sense to request suspension of service and billing for unused services. Often, the wireless provider complied with such requests. Section 535a of the Service Member Civil Relief Act (SCRA), enacted 10 October 2008, now requires wireless providers to suspend or terminate cell phone contracts at the request of the deploying service member, without charging any early termination fee if “the service member’s ability to satisfy the contract or to utilize the service will be materially affected” by the member’s impending PCS orders or orders to deploy in excess of 90 days. Upon receipt of such a request, along with a copy of the member’s orders, the wireless provider “shall” suspend or terminate as requested, with no early termination or reactivation fee. Or, if the member is deployed outside the United States, the wireless provider must permit suspension of service at no charge without requiring an extension of the service contract. The service member must make the termination or suspension request prior to executing PCS or deployment orders. Although the statute does not specifically say that the request must be in writing, it does call for the member to provide a copy of his/her military orders. In any event, the service member is well advised to make a written request, thereby creating a clear paper trail of events to resolve any potential dispute. Call your wireless provider; follow up quickly with a written request.



As mentioned above, even before the passage of this new section of the SCRA, many wireless providers were perfectly willing to suspend cell phone service during a deployment. Typically, the service member made the request by phone and the service was shut off within minutes of the call. However, there were recurring problems when the employees who turned off the service neglected to make the necessary changes to the billing codes. Thus, the wireless companies provided no service but continued to bill the customer. Service members found that, upon return from deployment, the wireless provider had referred the account to a collections agent who had no interest whatsoever in anything except collecting money from the service member and had no authority to make the necessary changes to your account. In other words, the left hand of the company (billing) didn’t know what the right hand (suspending / terminating service) had done.



To prevent this problem, make a written request. Get the wireless provider’s word in writing that not only will the service be suspended, but the billing as well. Have the wireless provider make a note in their electronic records as well. Call up the wireless provider a second time prior to deployment and ask the status of your account; make sure there is no billing. Have them read the notation to you. In addition, expect to pay promptly all existing charges on your account. Make sure to account for any partial months. For example, if you ask on April 10th the balance owed on your account, you may be provided with the balance as of the end of the last billing cycle March 31^st. Make sure to pay off any amounts accruing during April as well.