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As part of Chairman Brendan Carr’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, the FCC is set to reexamine its broadband “nutrition labels,” which let consumers know exactly what they are paying for with their internet service.
Since April 10, 2024, all major internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile carriers in the US have been required to display these labels. They are meant to make it easier to view all the fees and speeds you get when you sign up for a broadband plan, and resemble a nutrition label you might see in a supermarket. According to Carr, some of the requirements are too onerous.
On Oct. 28, “we will vote on a notice that would reexamine broadband nutrition labels so that we can separate the wheat from the chaff,” Carr says. “We want consumers to get quick and easy access to the information they want and need to compare broadband plans (as Congress has provided) without imposing unnecessary burdens.”
In a draft proposal, the FCC says it plans to vote on whether to require itemized descriptions of state and local pass-through fees that vary depending on the consumer’s location, as well as whether to eliminate the requirement to display information in multiple languages. Lawmakers will also vote on the requirement for ISPs to read the label in full to consumers over the phone and to make all labels available in machine-readable format.
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In 2023, five industry groups representing the largest ISPs petitioned the FCC to reconsider making them list every fee on their labels, saying that this “would add unnecessary complexity and burdens to the label for consumers and providers.”
At the time, then FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel declined the lobbyists’ requests, saying that US consumers need “transparent information when making decisions about what internet service offering makes the most sense for their family or household,” adding that no one “wants to be hit with charges they didn’t ask for or did not expect.”
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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.
I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.