There was a lot of buzz when Verizon started implementing “pay-as-you-go” fees to customers with the respective plans. The company charged $1.99 per megabyte to customers who were unsubscribed to a data package or plan. An investigation was focused on this issue after many customers began issuing complaints. The investigation revealed that approximately 15 million “pay-as-you-go” customers were overcharged for their data usage.

On this date, October 25th, in 2010, the Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau issued a historic consent decree. A record value of $25 million was to be paid to the US Treasury for Verizon Wireless’ “mystery fees” over the previous few years. It became the largest payment in FCC history. The agreement also forced Verizon Wireless to pay a minimum of $52.8 million to the approximate 15 million customers who were erroneously charged “mystery” data fees to ensure that customers would no longer be charged such mystery fees.