If you’ve shopped for an internet plan in the past year and a half, you’ve likely seen a nutrition label detailing the key facts about each available plan. On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to water down its requirements.
Tuesday’s vote was technically a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” which will allow public comment before a final vote. If it’s passed — a highly likely outcome given the commission’s Republican majority — internet service providers will no longer be required to read the labels to customers over the phone, give a complete accounting of the fees on broadband plans and make the labels available in a subscriber’s account portal.
I’ve been writing about broadband for seven years, and I can tell you firsthand how difficult it is to find basic plan information from many ISPs. Between price increases, hidden fees and advertised speeds, it felt like you needed a law degree to find out what you’d actually be paying each month.
When broadband labels were implemented in April 2024, all of that changed overnight. You could suddenly see the real price that would show up on your bill today — and years down the line. Now, the FCC looks poised to return internet customers to the dark.
“It’s the start of whittling away at these rules,” Raza Panjwani, senior policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute, told CNET. “You get this two-step, right? You make it less useful. Then you say, ‘Oh, look, it’s not that useful. We should get rid of it.’”
What happens next
After Tuesday’s vote, there will be 30 days for public comment, then another 30 days to reply to those comments. By the end of the year, the FCC will vote on whether to adopt the rules permanently.
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, called the proposal
FCC Votes to Gut Broadband ‘Nutrition Labels.’ Here’s What It Means for You
