In the wake of complaints centering around large carriers charging exorbitant fees to smaller competitors for roaming, the FCC voted that providing roaming connections was an obligation of commercial mobile phone carriers.

This vote covers mobile voice calls, as well as text messaging and push-to-talk services.  So far, this has gone through the FCC at least three times since 1996, although now consumers have been complaining of roaming charges approaching $0.79 per minute (on top of normal charges).

No progress has been made on the data front, much to Commissioner Michael Copps dismay. "Consumers rely upon their mobile handsets these days for a dizzying array of data services, going well beyond those we cover in today's item," said Michael.

Props to the FCC for protecting the consumer.  I wasn't able to put a proper song-and-dance number to show my appreciation, although I found something that's probably better.