Federal Communications Commission FCC 09-68
STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN
Re: Consumer Information and Disclosure, CG Docket No. 09-158; Truth-in-Billing and 
Billing Format, CC Docket No. 98-170; IP-Enabled Services, WC Docket No. 04-36
Today’s Notice reflects a fundamental tenet of an effective marketplace:  where 
consumers have meaningful access to information when making choices among providers and 
varied service plans, they are far more likely to make the best, most efficient choice.  When 
consumers are making informed choices, providers are driven to be innovative and to offer the 
most desirable services.  Consumers purchase those services.  Everybody wins.
However, where consumers are locked into long-term plans they never anticipated, 
experience unforeseen failures in service coverage, or routinely and unknowingly pay for 
services they never envisioned using, the marketplace has gone askew.  And when that occurs, 
the public interest requires that we identify the problem, fully comprehend its sources and its 
scope, and then address it head-on.
So today we ask:  “Do consumers of communications services and devices currently have 
meaningful access to essential information throughout and beyond the purchasing process, and if 
not, what are the most effective means to correct any systemic breakdowns?”
To answer this and related questions, we not only need information directly from 
consumers and groups that represent their interests, but from industry as well.  Some of the best 
data in this area is in the hands of communications service providers.  Many of them have 
developed impressive customer service operations that collect and track the kinds of information 
that could assist the Commission with its quest to get a handle on the state of the marketplace.  
Without it, we run the risk of developing solutions that are suboptimal for both consumers and 
industry.
Moreover, industry can provide the Commission with potential solutions to consumer 
confusion by sharing its own best practices.  It would be helpful to understand how various 
companies and organizations have addressed any known information deficits, and what each 
approach has yielded.  I am particularly eager to learn more about the experience of groups like 
CTIA, which has promulgated a “Consumer Code” geared towards ensuring that its members 
provide accurate information to consumers.  Is self-regulation truly effective in this context?  
How do we know?  Would such self-regulation be superior to guidance from or rules 
promulgated by the federal government developed in concert with industry and consumers alike?  
With robust industry participation, this proceeding can truly yield positive and long-lasting 
results.
We also seek guidance from academics who are experts in the fields of informational and 
behavioral economics.  Each of us here on the dais may have our own perceptions about how 
consumers process information and what prescriptions we would offer to remedy any perceived 
deficits.  But for us to make enlightened judgments about what information consumers require to 
make sound decisions and in what form that information should appear, it is paramount that we 
have input from experts who have studied these matters with rigor.
Finally, I applaud Chairman Genachowski and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs 
Bureau for actively seeking input on what the Commission itself can do to better educate 
consumers.  The Commission must not only play an active and ongoing role in this process, but 
be a leader in the business of protecting and empowering consumers.
Thank you again to the Chairman and the Bureau for this timely Notice which has my full 
support.