1 STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN Re: In the Matter of Empowering Consumers to Avoid Bill Shock, CG Docket No. 09-158; Consumer Information and Disclosure, CG Docket No. 09-158 I am pleased that the Commission has initiated this proceeding to require alerts and other information that could help wireless consumers avoid unexpected charges on their monthly bills. The Commission’s job is to ensure that its policies adequately protect consumers, and consequently, that those policies serve the public interest. When a substantial percentage of consumers have complained about overage charges, and their service providers have been slow to adequately respond, then the Commission must take the steps necessary to address those consumer concerns. Bill shock has been a significant issue for some time. The Government Accountability Office put wireless companies on notice, in November of 2009, when it issued its report indicating that 34 percent of wireless consumers had received unexpected charges on their bills. Wireless providers were also informed, that this Commission was taking the situation seriously, when earlier this year it conducted a comprehensive survey about bill shock. Unfortunately, the industry has not responded in a sufficient and uniform manner to address these issues. Wireless service providers spend considerable resources differentiating themselves on devices and service offerings, in their efforts to enhance customer support experiences. Given how widespread bill shock appears to be, I encourage all of the providers to earn their customers’ loyalty, by offering more effective alerts and management tools than their competitors. Perhaps the action we take today, will spur the industry to adopt the types of protection from bill shock that consumers should reasonably expect. If this happens, then perhaps this could be the silver lining around this bill shock cloud. Today’s item proposes certain requirements for wireless service providers, and allows companies to do more and compete for consumers, based on additional information and usage tools. Thus, this item proposes to better protect consumers from overages, no matter which company they choose, and permits companies to do even more to win customer loyalty. I applaud the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, for highlighting these concerns, and thank the Chairman for bringing this item to us for consideration.