FCC Updates Broadband Label Requirements

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) has adopted a Report and Order updating its broadband consumer label rules, changing how providers present certain label information over the phone, at the point of sale, and in customer portals.

Rules Being Changed

Telephone sales representatives will no longer need to read broadband labels verbatim to customers. A provider now satisfies its disclosure obligation by orally summarizing the plan’s monthly price, typical speeds, latency, data allowance, contract terms, and any early termination fees during the sales call, with no mandatory script required. Providers also gain a similar option at the physical point of sale and within customer account portals, where a clearly identified hyperlink or icon can now stand in for the full label, provided it connects a customer directly to the correct plan’s label without added navigation or search.

Providers also have new options for disclosing passthrough fees, the government imposed and third party infrastructure charges that vary by location. Rather than itemizing every location specific fee, a provider may disclose either a maximum “up to” amount across all jurisdictions or an exact jurisdiction specific total, so long as the disclosed figure never understates what customers are actually charged. Providers electing the “up to” approach must break that figure into its government cost and third party cost components and link to a webpage explaining each category; providers who disclose an exact jurisdictional total are not subject to that added breakdown.

Rules Being Eliminated

Providers no longer need to reference the Affordable Connectivity Program on their labels. Additionally, the requirement to maintain a separate machine-readable label file at a dedicated URL is eliminated, although labels must still remain accessible to consumers using screen readers and other assistive technology. The two-year archiving requirement for discontinued plan labels is also gone.

Next Steps

Providers should review their current telephone sales scripts, point of sale materials, and portal displays against these updated requirements, and decide which of the new disclosure options, such as the passthrough fee method, best fits their operations.

If you would like assistance updating your broadband labels and ensuring continued compliance, please contact Dounia Chikhoune or Brett Hallagan.