Everything You Need to Know About Broadband Consumer Labels
Comparison shopping between internet service providers (ISP) and deciphering the actual cost of the myriad plans on the market is about to get a little easier, thanks to broadband nutrition labels.
The labels, first introduced (but not mandated) in 2016, are modeled after nutrition facts labels on packaged foods for consumer familiarity. The broadband version will apply to both fixed and mobile “mass-market” broadband plans.
What will be on the labels?
Labels for fixed broadband plans will include the following information:
- Plan name and a unique identifier
- Monthly rate for broadband service alone
- Whether or not that price is an introductory rate, along with the expiration date, price after the expiration date, and a link to contract terms, if applicable
- Recurring monthly fees (e.g., equipment lease/rental and government program fees)
- One-time fees (e.g., deposit, equipment purchase, installation, activation, and late payment fees)
- Early termination fees
- Discounts (e.g., paperless billing, autopay, and bundling)
- Disclosure of participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program with a statement explaining the program to raise awareness
- Typical download speeds, upload speeds, and latency
- Data caps, overage fees, and implications of exceeding any limits (e.g., slowed speeds or service loss)
- Link to network management policy
- Link to privacy policy
- Contact information
- Link to a glossary on the FCC’s website
Labels for mobile broadband will also list data plans, a link to a coverage map, device compatibility, and device pricing.
The labels must be machine readable, accessible to people with disabilities, and translated into any languages that the ISP uses in marketing materials.
Where will the labels appear?
The entire label — not just a link or portion of the label — must be prominently displayed at the “point of sale,” when potential customers begin to shop for service, compare service options, or provide their service address. This could be on the ISP website, in a retail store, or over the phone.
If an ISP discontinues a plan, they must retain the label, supporting data, and associated links for two years, and provide this information to current customers and the FCC within 30 days of a request.
The FCC could make the labels even more accessible by directing ISPs to include the labels on monthly customer bills.
What is the purpose of the labels?
By mandating broadband labels, the FCC aims to achieve several overlapping objectives, including but not limited to the following.
Goal #1: Standardization, easy comparison, and improved competition
ISPs will be required to include the same information, in the same order, in the same format. This will enable easier comparison shopping, improving competition between providers and incentivizing ISPs to simplify their pricing structures.
Goal #2: Transparency, consumer protection, and digital equity
Labels will ensure consumers are informed about the cost and details of service plans before signing up, hopefully eliminating unpleasant surprises. Potential customers should be fully aware of introductory pricing expiration dates and bill increases, how much extra they will pay in fees beyond the base broadband charge, and the typical speeds they can expect — rather than the advertised speeds.
And because “cost is one of the biggest barriers to broadband adoption, a stark divide that disproportionately harms Black, Latinx, Tribal, and rural communities,” broadband labels are an important step on the path to digital equity.
In structuring the labels, the FCC had to walk a fine line between the information needed for transparency and easy comparison shopping, and overwhelming customers with too much detail.
Goal #3: Accountability
ISPs will have difficulty exaggerating speeds and coverage areas, as we’ve seen in multiple iterations of the FCC’s broadband maps. The FCC is attempting to hold ISPs accountable by requiring them to report typical download and upload speeds. ISPs will either stick to the advertised speeds they reported in the FCC maps, leading to complaints from customers who aren’t getting the speeds they are paying for, or ISPs will list typical speeds on the labels, thereby revealing inflated claims in the FCC maps. The latter scenario will be particularly awkward for ISPs that aren’t actually delivering upload speeds of 25 Mbps or higher — the current definition of broadband. The FCC plans to leverage the labels for broadband data collection.
How did we get here?
Broadband consumer labels are years in the making, partly because the ISP lobby has rallied against them. Introductory rates, hidden fees, surcharges, overage charges, etc., make broadband pricing harder to follow and have proven to be lucrative marketing tactics. As a result, many ISPs do not want to comply with the consumer labels rule. The circuitous route to enacting the consumer labels provides further evidence:
The timeline also illustrates that this is a political issue, pausing and resuming under different presidential administrations. Now that the FCC has a 3–2 democratic majority, they have a window of opportunity to implement the labels. ISPs need to comply with the requirements before the 2024 election, but given the fraught history of this law, it’s safe to assume that the ISP lobby will continue to push back.
Looking ahead
Even though the labels have been in the works since 2016, challenges and complaints remain. A few ISPs have already released their first labels — such as Google Fiber — but many ISPs have voiced concerns about accurately quantifying typical speeds. They argue that speeds for technologies like DSL and fixed wireless differ depending on time of day and distance from cell towers, so listing typical speeds prior to connecting a customer will be difficult. How the FCC will verify those speeds, enforce accuracy, and use the data in broadband availability analyses and grant programs remains to be seen.
What questions do you have about broadband consumer labels before the April 10 compliance deadline?
¹https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-16-357A1.pdf
²https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/fcc-requires-most-broadband-labels-by-april-2024#
⁴https://communitynets.org/content/nutrition-label-broadband-service-where-are-we-now
⁵https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684/text
⁷https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-22-86A1.pdf
⁹https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-23-617A1.pdf
