On Monday, January 25, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an open forum with consumers from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Chula Vista Library’s Civic Center Branch, in Chula Vista, CA, to discuss their experiences with wireless service providers. The forum is designed to provide consumers with an opportunity to speak directly with federal officials about their thoughts on the state of the wireless market.

In August, the FCC began an inquiry into what additional steps it should take, if any, to ensure that American consumers have sufficient access to relevant information about communications services. A recent survey by the Government Accountability Office found that one-third of wireless phone customers who pay their own bills found unexpected charges or had problems understanding their bills. Some consumers have reported being confused by their mobile phone contracts or surprised that a fee is charged to cancel their service early. More than 270 million U.S. consumers have mobile phones and approximately 20% of U.S. consumers rely solely on their mobile phones and do not have traditional wired telephones in their homes.

Commissioner Clyburn recently expressed concern over the expansion of early termination fees by one provider and related reports of unexpected and unjustified charges appearing on consumers’ bills from that provider. A copy of the Commissioner’s statement can be found at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-295371A1.pdf