Senator John "Jay" Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, introduced the on Wednesday, he announced. The bill would prohibit any telephone carrier or VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) provider from placing any third-party charges on a customer's bill, unless the change is for a telephone-related service, like long distance or collect calls, or for a bundled service, like satellite television service.

The bill follows a year-long investigation by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, where Rockefeller serves as chairman, and action by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. In April, the to provide their customers with more billing information in the agency's effort to crack down on cramming.

Many telephone service customers don't recognize crammed charges on their bills for months or years, the FCC said then. Crammers often avoid detection with small charges -- as little as US$1.99 on a monthly bill.Fifteen to 20 million U.S. households are victims of cramming on their landline phone bills each year, according to the FCC.

AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink have taken steps to combat cramming in the past year, including decisions to stop allowing most third-party charges on phone bills, Rockefeller noted. His new legislation would ensure that all wireline telephone providers take the same steps, he said in a statement.

"Unauthorized charges on telephone bills have plagued telephone customers for years," Rockefeller said. "With a couple exceptions, there's simply no justification for allowing third-party billing on wireline telephone bills to continue."