U.S. Cellular launches overage protection service

Looking to keep customers in formed of their usage and thus happier with their carrier, U.S. Cellular Corp. unveiled its Overage Protection service that will send a free text message to customers that have used 75% of their calling plan minutes or text messages. The service will also send a text when a customer reaches 100% of their calling plans allotment.
Overage charges are often cited by consumer surveys as a reason customers are unsatisfied with their wireless service and could be looking to switch carriers. Earlier this year AT&T Mobility was hit with a lawsuit over its overage charges on its data plans linked to subsidized netbooks.
U.S. Cellular said the plan should help those customers on family plans that might have multiple lines of service to keep track of.
Existing and new post-pay customers can sign up for the service by visiting a retail store, contacting customer service or accessing their online account. New customers who activate service through the carrier’s Web site can also request that Overage Protection be added on to their account.
The service is set to run nightly, calculating usage. Once a threshold is reached, a text alert will be sent the next day during normal business hours.
Third-party application developers have rolled out similar offerings.