On November 18, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its new requirements for internet service providers (ISPs) to display consumer labels with broadband services upon the point of sale. The FCC has required that these labels be available for wireless and wired services, including several key metrics, such as monthly prices, broadband speeds, data size and any additional terms or fees. As seen by the FCC example below, this information will be presented in the same format as nutrition labels included on food products.

Established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (P.L. 117-58), the broadband consumer label requirements were created through a federal rulemaking process with input from consumers, consumer advocates and government and industry experts. Although the requirements are publicly available, the FCC has not yet announced the effective date for these labels.

Counties have a major role to play in protecting consumer interests, including a strong consumer protection process. It is crucial that every effort should be made to promote competition between ISPs to ensure consumers are receiving an appropriate range of services at the lowest possible cost. NACo ultimately supports efforts to increase price transparency for all consumers to ensure broadband services are accessible and affordable for all.

NACo will continue to monitor FCC regulations surrounding broadband consumer protections and provide additional updates.