FCC Eases Broadband Nutrition Label Compliance Burdens

Background

In 2021, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require display of detailed broadband consumer labels for broadband internet access service plans. In 2022, the FCC implemented the mandate with detailed requirements discussed in our previous advisory. At its July 22, 2026, meeting, the FCC adopted a Report and Order that will meaningfully reduce several of the most operationally difficult aspects of the broadband label rules, while preserving consumer transparency required by statute. While most changes will not become legally effective until approved by the Office of Management and Budget, it is at least possible that the Enforcement Bureau might not investigate providers that take early advantage of the benefits.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that were compliant with the former rules do not need to take any action to comply with the new rules. The new rules will permit such ISPs to change their labels and practices, but revisions are not required except as needed to keep all required information up to date.

Label Display and Content Improvements

1. Telephone Sales: Under the original rules, ISPs accepting telephone orders could satisfy the disclosure requirements by sending the label via text or email in real time or reading the entire label contents verbatim. Under the revised rules, sales representatives choosing to provide verbal disclosure may instead provide a natural-language summary of the label's contents that must cover: monthly price including any applicable introductory rate and its duration; typical download and upload speeds; latency; data allowance; contract term duration if applicable; and any early termination fees.

   These changes give ISPs a realistic option that can be used if the customer is unable to receive the label via text or email. Providers should still maintain compliant scripts or talking points, along with training and quality assurance procedures, to ensure representatives consistently convey all required information.



2. Aggregated Passthrough Fees: Instead of being required to fully itemize location-based passthrough fees, ISPs will be able to disclose these fees as an "up to" maximum monthly total, or as the exact monthly total applicable in the relevant geographic area. This change is significant for providers operating across multiple states or municipalities by reducing the need for multiple jurisdiction-specific labels.

   Providers that use the "up to" approach are also required to separately break out the total into (1) governmental passthrough fees and (2) nongovernmental third-party passthrough fees. For each category, providers are required to identify the types of fees included and direct consumers to their webpage that describes those fees.

   Providers are still required to accurately itemize current monthly fees they set themselves and charges that do not vary by location.

3. ACP Disclosure Removed: Because the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) concluded on June 1, 2024, the FCC removed the requirement to include ACP information on the label.

4. Direct Link in Customer Account Portals: While providers that offer customer account portals are still required to make each customer's current-plan label easily accessible, they will no longer need to display the full label in the portal itself. A prominent hyperlink or icon is sufficient if it is clearly identified as connecting directly to the customer's current plan label. The linked label should reflect the customer's current plan, not merely the originally purchased version if the plan has changed, and should not direct customers to a general landing page. This rule change should reduce portal-design and maintenance burdens and simplify account interfaces, including for mobile and app-based platforms.

5. Hyperlink or Icon at the Point of Sale: Whereas the initial rules required providers to display the full label at the point of sale, such as the ISP's website, the revised rules permit the use of a hyperlink or icon linking to the full label. This change better aligns with realistic web design and marketing practices, particularly on mobile interfaces or pages that were otherwise simple in design. The new rules still require the link or icon to appear close to the advertised plan and connect directly to that plan's label or to a page where the relevant plan label is immediately identifiable and accessible without additional navigation, address entry, or search. Providers should review purchase flows and plan pages to ensure that label access complies with these new requirements.

Eliminated Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements

1. Machine-Readable File Requirement Eliminated: Providers will no longer have to publish label content separately in a machine-readable spreadsheet or data file at a dedicated URL, but providers are still required to ensure labels remain accessible to consumers with disabilities, including compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technologies. This change removes a backend compliance requirement and should reduce provider costs, but it does not change the FCC's accessibility requirements. Providers should continue following accessibility best practices, including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines-based design standards.

2. Two-Year Archive Requirement Eliminated: Providers will no longer have to archive labels for at least two years after a plan is no longer offered to new customers. This change should reduce storage and administrative burdens, particularly for providers that frequently update plans or offer many localized services. Providers remain subject to the general transparency rule, portal access requirements, and other recordkeeping obligations.

Template Changes

The FCC has removed the template from the Code of Federal Regulations. Instead, the current and past label templates will be maintained at fcc.gov/broadbandlabels. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will handle future non-substantive template formatting changes by Public Notice.

What the FCC Declined to Change

The FCC's streamlined broadband label rules did not retreat from the core broadband label framework required by Congress. Providers are still required to display labels for covered offerings and make them accessible to consumers with disabilities. Providers are still required to continue displaying labels in English and in any other language(s) in which they market their services in the United States and its territories.

The FCC also decided to continue to require labels for mass-market services marketed to business customers and E-Rate and Rural Health Care Program customers, rejecting suggestions from ISPs that such labels are unnecessary.

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Marina Sansom is an associate, and Bob Scott and Paul Hudson are partners in DWT's Washington, D.C., office. For questions or more insights, please reach out to the authors or another member of our communications team and sign up for our alerts.