FCC Seeks to Change Broadband Label Requirements

On October 28, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted, on a two to one vote by the Commissioners, the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in CG Docket No. 22-2, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in GN Docket No. 25-133, FCC 25-74 (NPRM) in the dockets entitled, Empowering Broadband Consumers Through Transparency and Delete, Delete, Delete. The FCC NPRM proposes to modify and eliminate certain broadband label requirements previously adopted by the FCC in 2022. The NPRM reasons that some of the 2022 rules proposed for deletion provide minimal consumer benefit and are not specifically mandated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Pub. L. No. 117-58, 135 Stat. 429 (2021) (IIJA). The IIJA did direct the FCC to “promulgate regulations to require the display of broadband consumer labels.” It also required that the labels provide information regarding broadband service plans and pricing information. In addition to proposing to eliminate and modify certain broadband labeling requirements, the NPRM also seeks comment on other ways the FCC might streamline the broadband label rules. The NPRM requested comments on the appropriate timeline for implementing the proposed changes, the cost-benefit analysis of the changes, and the agency’s legal authority to make the modifications.

The NPRM noted that the proposals were the result of feedback from the industry submitted in response to its March 12, 2025 Delete, Delete, Delete Public Notice. The Delete, Delete, Delete notice sought comment on “identifying FCC rules for the purpose of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens.” Several commenters, the NPRM noted, suggested the elimination of label requirements not mandated by the Infrastructure Act (IIJA).

The comment period for this notice offers the broadband industry, consumer rights groups and consumers an opportunity to respond to the NPRM’s proposed changes to broadband label requirements. In particular, the NPRM seeks input on how to preserve the consumer’s ability to compare different broadband plans. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2025. Comments are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, or on January 2, 2026. Reply comments are due 30 days later.

Background on the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

The IIJA directed the FCC to promulgate regulations requiring labels to disclose information to consumers about broadband internet service plans that would “include information regarding whether the offered price is an introductory rate and, if so, the price the consumer will be required to pay following the introductory period.” The FCC issued a Public Notice on April 4, 2016, noting that the labels should include price, data allowances, speeds, and management practices. In November 2022, the FCC issued the Broadband Label Order, providing the labeling rules for all mass-market retail broadband internet access services.

The Broadband Label Order required internet service providers (ISP or providers) to display labels at the point of sale, including non-website locations such as physical stores and telephone sales channels. The labels were required to:

Display prices, including introductory rates.
Provide one-time and recurring fees and data allowances.
Provide the length of the contract term.
Disclose typical upload and download speed and typical latency.
Link to network management practices.
Appear in English and in other languages in which the ISP markets its services in the United States.

The Broadband Label Order also mandated that providers make plans available on their websites in machine-readable format, archive labels for no less than two years after a plan is no longer available and make labels available in any customer online account portals that they offer. In August 2023, the FCC modified the order requiring providers to itemize the fees they add to base monthly prices, including fees related to government programs they choose to pass through to consumers.

The Broadband Label Order took effect on April 10, 2024, for most providers and on October 10, 2024, for providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines. The requirements to make label information available in a machine-readable format and to make labels available in customers’ online account portals took effect on that date.

Key Proposals of the NPRM
The NPRM proposed eliminating several broadband label requirements, reasoning that such changes would better align the requirements with the IIJA and reduce providers’ compliance costs. More specifically, the NPRM proposed eliminating the following broadband labeling requirements:

Providers must read labels to customers that buy broadband services on the phone.
Providers must itemize discretionary, recurring monthly fees that represent costs passed through to consumers, which vary by consumer location.
Providers must include Affordable Connectivity Program (“APC”) information in the broadband label.
Providers that offer their customers online account portals must display labels in such portals and providers must display labels in both English and any other languages in which the provider markets its services in the United States.
Providers must display label information on their websites in a machine-readable format, which includes providing the information in any label separately in a spreadsheet file format on the provider’s website.
Providers must archive all labels for at least two years after a service plan is no longer available to new customers and has been removed from the provider’s website or alternate sales channels.

The NPRM seeks comments on its proposal to modify the following:

Whether the label template in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) should be replaced with a link to a template on the FCC’s website.
Whether the “fcc.gov/consumer” reference in the template should be replaced with “fcc.gov/broadbandlabel.”
Whether the 47 C.F.R. § 8.1(a)(7) implementation deadlines should be removed.
The appropriate timeline for providers to implement label changes.
Whether IIJA provides the FCC with the authority to make the NPRM’s proposed modifications to the labeling rules.
Whether the proposed changes will result in costs to providers and, in the long term, will lead to cost savings.

Commissioner Gomez’s Dissent

FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez dissented, arguing that the proposals were “anti-consumer” and would strip transparency from the labels. She opposed eliminating the discretionary passthrough fee itemization and the proposal for English-only labels. She noted eliminating labels in other languages harms customers where providers marketed to consumers in their native language. Gomez contended that eliminating fee details was contrary to Congress’s intent.

For questions about this notice or assistance in preparing comments, please contact Phillips Lytle’s Telecommunications team or the Phillips Lytle attorney with whom you have a relationship.