FCC Plans New Rules for Phone Service Promos : Consumers: Complaints may lead to changes in how switching of long-distance carriers can be done.

Swamped by consumer complaints, federal regulators plan to adopt tougher rules against switching customers’ long-distance companies without their knowledge, a practice known as “slamming.”

The Federal Communications Commission, possibly as early as today, plans to act in the area where complaints have been on the rise: long-distance companies’ use of contests, prize giveaways, checks and other promotions to lure new customers.

“We’re trying to protect consumers from fraudulent practices and protect their right of choice,” FCC Chairman Reed Hundt said in an interview Monday.

The FCC receives more than 700 complaints a month on the topic. “It is the No. 1 complaint category at the commission,” said Kathleen Wallman, chief of the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau.

In many cases, regulators say, people are unaware that by signing a contest form or consenting to a charitable donation they have agreed to switch to another long-distance company.

If the authorization information is included in the form, they say, it is often buried somewhere in tiny print.

The expected changes, designed to better protect consumers, would be added to existing rules adopted in 1992.

The biggest change, according to FCC officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would require long-distance companies to provide consumers a piece of paper, separate from promotional material, authorizing a change in service.

For checks, the authorization form would not have to be separate, but it would have to be clearly and prominently marked on the front and the back of the check, according to long-distance company attorneys close to the proceeding.

AT&T; and MCI already do this, company officials said. Sprint does not routinely offer checks, spokeswoman Juanada Teas said.

AT&T; Vice President Gerry Salemme called the proposed rule changes “pro-consumer, pro-competitive and well-balanced. They should protect customers from unscrupulous activities by a few companies in the industry.”

But an MCI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the provision separating the service authorization from promotional materials is overly broad and would require MCI to change promotions that have not been the source of consumer complaints.

For instance, MCI runs a promotion targeting airline customers to switch service. The promotion material and authorization form are in one piece: the folders in which airlines distribute tickets. The authorization language is standard and reads along the lines of, “I understand that by signing this, I authorize a change in my primary long-distance carrier.”