The third-party billing industry was a "system rife with fraud," he added.

The legislation also would require the FCC to work with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to develop rules to protect mobile phone users. The rules would require mobile carriers to establish procedures to ensure that third-party charges appearing on bills were authorized by customers, and would create a way for mobile customers to be reimbursed for unauthorized, third-party charges.

The FCC should move quickly to develop rules to stop mobile cramming, Rockefeller said. There were complaints about wireline bill cramming dating back to the 1990s, he said.

"We had the opportunity to put an end to wireline cramming back then and we chose not to," he added. "Over the following decade, millions of consumers were harmed. Let's learn from the lessons of wireline cramming and address the vulnerabilities of wireless billing right now, before any more consumers are harmed by the shameful practice of cramming."

The IDG News Service