The Federal Communications Commission is simplifying the broadband consumer label rules that govern what Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must disclose at their points of sale.
While the new rules may not take effect for several months, the following summarize changes that will impact these disclosures:
- ISPs will no longer need to provide a full label display at every consumer interaction point. Instead, ISPs will be allowed to direct consumers to labels using hyperlinks or icons on their web sites and within a customer’s account portal.
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- Hyperlinked or iconographic labels still have to be “clearly identified as a way to access the label for the advertised plan” and “must be displayed in close proximity to the associated advertised service plan.”
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- ISPs must still display labels in English and any other language(s) in which they market their services.
- Sales representatives will no longer be required to read a broadband label verbatim over the phone. While this change will allow more conversational sales calls, sales representatives must still summarize specific “material” parts of the service in a sales interaction, including:
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- Monthly prices (including fees/introductory rates/duration)
- Typical download and upload speeds and latency
- Data allowances
- Term/duration of contracts and early termination fees
- ISPs must handle "passthrough fees" in a different way. Passthrough fees are monthly charges imposed by government entities or third-party infrastructure owners that vary by location. The new rules permit aggregation of passthrough fees, allowing ISPs to display a maximum "up to" amount that applies across the service territory, or the exact total for a specific jurisdiction. If ISPs choose the "up to" aggregate option, they must identify and break the total passthrough fees into two categories: (1) governmental passthrough fees, and (2) non-governmental third-party infrastructure fees. Providers must also include a link to a webpage they maintain which contains a clear description of each type of passthrough fee.
- The obligation on ISPs to have an archive of broadband labels for two years after a plan has been discontinued has been removed.
- References to the “Affordable Connectivity Program” or “ACP” must be removed from labels because the program no longer exists.
- ISPs are no longer required to host label data in spreadsheet formats (CSV, JSON, etc.) via a dedicated URL, but labels must remain compatible with assistive technologies like screen readers.
Because these new rules involve information collections, OMB must approve them before they are effective. The FCC will post the effective date at that time, which will likely be several months from now.
For more information about the FCC’s Report and Order on Empowering Broadband Consumers Through Transparency, please contact Steve Coran or Rebecca Jacobs Goldman in our Broadband, Spectrum, and Communications Infrastructure Practice Group
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