News

Some of America’s major internet providers have raised concerns about a broadband-transparency rule that requires them to itemize non-tax government-related fees on subscriber bills. The rule, modeled after the FDA’s nutrition labels, was approved by the FCC last November and requires providers to list all recurring monthly fees, including those associated with regulatory programs. However, it does not require the breakdown of actual taxes, as these fees vary by location.

The cable industry’s trade group, NCTA, argued that this requirement would add unnecessary complexity and burden for both consumers and providers. They suggested that providers should either state that these fees vary by jurisdiction or show the maximum level of government-imposed fees that could be passed through. They also objected to the provision that requires ISPs to document instances when they direct consumers to a label at an alternate sales channel and keep those records for two years, calling it unnecessary and disruptive.

Comcast, in its filing, raised similar objections and estimated that it would have to create over 250 separate broadband consumer labels without itemizing these fees. Verizon and AT&T also expressed concerns, stating that they would have to create well over 500 labels and 29,000 separate labels, respectively, to cover state-level fees.

Despite these objections, the overall implementation of the broadband-label rule is mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The parts of the rule that the companies have not objected to include the disclosure of data caps, listing upload and download speeds, breaking out modem-rental fees, and comparing introductory and non-promotional rates.

However, some providers do not seem to be rushing to adopt this transparency on their own. For example, Comcast’s presentation of plans available at a San Francisco address did not disclose upload speeds or its 1.2TB data cap, although a link provided additional information about pricing.

The post America’s Internet Providers Object to Itemizing Government-Related Fees on Broadband Labels appeared first on satProviders.