FCC’s ‘Broadband Nutrition’ Labels Now Mandatory for All Internet Providers

Online shopping just got easier.

In April, the US Federal Communications Commission launched a move to make online shopping easier. Online providers must produce labels that contain key elements of their design — borrowing the nutrition label format from food products. Initially, this rule only applied to providers with more than 100K subscribers, but as of Oct. 10, all ISPs have been required to use labels.

“People have been pushing this for years because companies were making it hard to tell what exactly you’re getting,” Justin Brookman, director of technology strategy for Consumer Reports, said. CNET. “You sign up for something for $50 a month, and after taxes and fees, it’s $100, then that balloons to $200. That was a big problem. And that’s why the cable companies resisted this for 10 years.”

Online providers are notorious for their complicated pricing practices. Between autopay discounts, introductory prices and hidden fees, you often don’t know what your credit will look like until it’s too late. I write online for a living, and even have to call providers directly to get basic information such as upload speed and price increases. That’s the kind the FCC wants to clarify.

“The basic idea is that competitive markets work better when consumers have the right information,” Blair Levin, a former FCC commissioner and telecom industry analyst at New Street Research, told CNET. . “Requiring ISPs to provide this kind of low-level information to consumers is really kind of ridiculous.”

Trump’s new FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, is expected to roll back many of the FCC’s initiatives from the past four years, but broadband labels are not one of them – Carr voted names in 2022, arguing that. they would promote transparency and help consumers make informed decisions.

That’s what you’ll see on broadband labels

You’ll see broadband labels everywhere you shop for Internet. You may have to enter your address to see them, but now all providers have to display them on their websites.

“Broadband names must appear at the point of sale,” Alejandro Roark, director of the FCC’s Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau, told CNET. “And it’s not going to be hidden. It’s not going to be one of those things where there’s a price, but you have to click on a lot of links, or click on this little picture that can be hard to wrong. We are very clear in our rules that they must be there.”

Monthly price

Above the label is the monthly price, plus any increases you might expect. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of being an Internet customer: Your bill can double in a year or two, and you won’t know it until it happens. Sometimes you can find out what your price increase will be by combining the fine print, but most ISPs say it will go back to the “current rate” after ‘a for promotional prices to expire.

The broadband plan seems odd in that process by requiring providers to clearly state how long the introductory price lasts and what it will jump to when it ends.

Other fees

This is where you will see all the fees associated with the online plan. Most of it will be equipment fees, which can be divided into separate prices for modem and router rental. If necessary, you can see things like installation and termination fees here, too.

But these too can be misleading. Spectrum, for example, lists an installation fee of $30 to $65 on all of its labels, but when you go to check, installation is listed as free.

Discounts and bags

This feature was pretty much the same with every ISP I looked at. You’ll be directed to a link with more information about the discounts you can get if you add things like phone or TV service to your Internet plan.

Racing

There are three factors listed here: average download speed, average upload speed, and latency. Roark told me that internet providers are responsible for reporting this information themselves, and the FCC does not check for accuracy.

The speed data I’ve seen varies from provider to provider, and in some cases, raises more questions than answers. Spectrum lists its Internet 100 plan as “up to 100Mbps,” for example, but its label says typical download speeds are “100Mbps or more.”

AT&T Fiber, on the other hand, lists an average download speed of 398Mbps and an upload speed of 381.7Mbps for its 300Mbps plan. AT&T told CNET that these numbers are taken from an internal device.

Details are included

Data caps are a thing of the past with most internet plans, but providers that still have them must list exactly what they are, as well as any charges you’ll incur. find out when you pass. You’ll be charged based on how much data you use — usually $10 or $15 for every 50GB of data you get.

Legal information and customer support

The remaining sections are reserved for legal proceedings. You can click on the links to learn more about the ISP’s network management and privacy policies (if that’s your idea of ​​a good time).

There is also a customer support site, which included a phone number on every label I saw. This is more important than you might think — ISPs often make their contact information hard to find.

How will broadband labels be used?

Internet providers are not required to submit labels to the FCC for approval before displaying them on their sites. The agency relies heavily on third-party advocacy groups and consumers themselves to ensure that the information displayed on broadband labels is accurate.

“As with most of the agency’s operations, we really rely on the customer complaint process,” Roark said. “Now that the laws are officially in force, we will be monitoring and ensuring that there is a broad consumer awareness campaign across the country so that consumers are aware of this requirement and what they can do. expect from the labels.”

An FCC spokesperson also told CNET that the Commission’s Office of Compliance will monitor public reporting, consumer complaints, notifications from partner agencies and use “other investigative tools” to monitor compliance. when the law.

If you notice that a service provider is not labeling or has incorrect information about its plans, you can file a complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Complaint Center.

Important point

Broadband consumer labels are a much-needed step to take the confusion out of online shopping. And with smaller suppliers now required to produce labels, consumers should have an easier time comparing all the options available in their homes.

“I hope the FCC will revisit it every two years, every four years, with industry input, with consumer input — and slowly “It’s slowly improving,” Levin told CNET. “That should be something that can be achieved. That should be one of the primary tasks at the FCC.”