Revamped FCC Broadband Labels Will Provide Clarity to Consumers

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to vote on revamped broadband labels at its July 22 meeting, a plan that would declutter needless verbiage and make the information easier for consumers to understand.

The FCC created broadband labels in 2022 to help customers shop for high-speed internet services. The labels’ purpose is to provide easy-to-understand and accurate information about the cost and performance of high-speed internet services. They are designed to allow consumers to quickly compare internet plans and prices at the point of sale. Internet providers were required to display these labels starting in 2024; the rules took effect in April of that year for larger providers with more than 100,000 subscribers and October for smaller providers.

Ed Bartholme, chief of the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, said in a recent blog post that the Commission has decided the labels can be improved to ensure that consumers get information that is easier to digest.

“Consumers…deserve clear, useful information about these communications services so they can make informed choices,” he wrote. “That’s why we are talking about effective labeling.”

The FCC solicited comments on proposed broadband label changes earlier this year. In its submitted comments, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance noted that the plan to streamline requirements on broadband labels would reduce unnecessary burdens on providers while retaining key information to help consumers compare different broadband plans.

This move follows previous actions by the FCC to remove unneeded and unwanted regulations without affecting consumers. As FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pointed out, these proposed changes to the labels merely separate “the wheat from the chaff.”

That chaff (unnecessary items) includes reading the labels to consumers over the phone, itemizing state and local passthrough fees that vary by location, providing information about the now-concluded Affordable Connectivity Program, making labels available in machine readable format, and archiving labels describing previously offered services for a minimum of two years.

Those proposed eliminations will better align the consumer broadband labels with the original Congressional mandate of providing core information so that consumers can make informed decisions on their potential broadband plans without additional convoluted information that makes the labels harder to understand.

Providers will still be incentivized by the labels to offer better value to consumers because consumers can still easily compare providers on the metrics that matter the most.

The new label design will:

• Remove details that distract from essential information,
• Visualize the monthly cost of service more clearly,
• Remove outdated information, 
• Let a provider discuss the label conversationally over the phone rather than reading the label to a consumer verbatim; and
• Allow a provider to provide the label through links, QR codes, or icons so consumers can access the information when they need it.

“These proposed changes help the label do what it does best: provide clear, accurate information about the cost and performance of high-speed internet services,” Bartholme said.

If the FCC approves these changes, broadband labels will continue to provide consumers with the most important information to make informed decisions, including details on pricing, introductory rates, and post-promotion rates. The labels will still reveal details about download and upload speeds, data caps, and equipment rental and other fees. They will continue to provide links to providers’ network management policies and other pertinent information about the services offered.

Bartholme said the FCC will continue to ensure the labels are accessible to people with disabilities, and that labels are displayed in the same language used when marketing a service.

Broadband labels were put into place to benefit consumers, and the continued reexamination of how they can be adjusted will also benefit broadband users. This plan will eliminate requirements that create unnecessary obligations on providers and provide little convenience to consumers. It’s long past time to improve and streamline broadband labeling for consumers.