As part of Chairman Brendan Carr’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” rule-cutting initiative, the FCC is set to reexamine its rules around broadband “nutrition labels,” which let consumers know exactly what they are signing up to pay.
From April 10, 2024, all major internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile carriers in the US were required to start displaying these labels. These are meant to make it easier to view all the fees and speeds you get when you sign up for a broadband internet plan, and look not dissimilar to a nutrition label you might get in a supermarket.
In a blog post, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the organization is set to vote on a notice that would reexamine broadband nutrition labels so that it “can separate the wheat from the chaff.”
“We want consumers to get quick and easy access to the information they want and need to compare broadband plans (as Congress has provided) without imposing unnecessary burdens,” said Carr.
The vote is currently scheduled for October 28.
In the draft proposal, the FCC says it plans to vote on whether to require labels to include itemized descriptions of state and local pass-through fees that vary depending on the consumer’s location, as well as whether to eliminate the requirement to display information in multiple languages. Lawmakers will also vote on the requirement for ISPs to read the label in full to consumers over the phone and to make all labels available in machine-readable format.
US ISPs have long been pushing back on the watchdog requiring them to list every fee. In 2023, five industry groups representing the largest ISPs petitioned the FCC to reconsider making them list every fee on their labels, saying that this “would add unnecessary complexity and burdens to the label for consumers and providers.”
At the time, the FCC’s then-chairperson, Jessica Rosenworcel, declined the lobbyists’ requests, saying that US consumers need “transparent information when making decisions about what internet service offering makes the most sense for their family or household,” adding that no one “wants to be hit with charges they didn’t ask for or did not expect.”
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