FCC Simplifies Its Broadband "Nutrition" Labels

On July 22, the Commission adopted a Report and Order modifying its broadband "nutrition" label rules. According to the News Release, these changes "mak[e] [the labels] a more useful tool for consumers and reduc[e] compliance burdens on providers." They also bring those rules into better alignment with their authorizing congressional language.

2021's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the Commission to "promulgate regulations to require the display of broadband consumer labels, as described in the Public Notice of the Commission issued on April 4, 2016 (DA 16–357), to disclose to consumers information regarding broadband Internet access service plans" (emphasis added).

"GFiber FCC Broadband Label" by Wikimedia Commons user JBoots07 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

But as I cautioned in a Perspectives from FSF Scholars published prior to the adoption of the original rules in November 2022, various commenters would have the agency ignore such statutory guardrails and instead "overload those labels with extraneous information intended to advance unrelated policy agendas rather than facilitate broadband comparison shopping."

Regrettably, the FCC at that time did not embrace my concerns.

The item adopted on July 22, however, addresses that overreach – and at the same time renders the labels more useful for consumers and less burdensome for ISPs. As the News Release underscores, the "initial broadband label rules … resulted in sometimes-confusing labels that strayed beyond the statutory framework Congress created, increasing compliance costs for providers in the process."

Among other things, the updated rules:

• Allow customer service representatives to communicate information contained in the labels conversationally rather than requiring them to read the labels word for word;

• Ensure "that consumers have … clear, accurate, and concise information about broadband plans, making the labels a more useful shopping tool";

• Eliminate obligations to provide outdated information, such as references to the since-discontinued Affordable Connectivity Program;

• Allow providers to "use links or icons at point-of-sale to avoid unwieldy amounts of information that can overwhelm consumers"; and, most saliently,

• Remove obligations that exceed the underlying statutory mandate.

In his Separate Statement, Chairman Brendan Carr assured that "[n]one of those changes come at the expense of transparency…. The result is a label that's easier for consumers to use, while reducing costs for providers. That's a win for everyone."