Shopping for internet service? New ‘nutrition facts’ could simplify the process

No empty calories here! Starting Wednesday, shoppers will see fact sheets that look like nutrition labels wherever internet plans are sold, making it easier to parse the details and cost of each plan.

Under new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules that just took effect, internet service providers must prominently display the labels at all points of sale, including in-store and online.

“The FCC borrows the nutrition label model format from food products because we wanted to make basic information about broadband internet service easily recognizable and easy to understand,” Alejandro Roark, chief of the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, told reporters on a Tuesday press call.

He emphasized that the labels can’t be condensed into a single link or hidden away on a website.

“Along with requiring information about pricing, introductory rates, data allowances, and performance metrics for all standalone fixed and mobile broadband service offerings, a separate label must be displayed for each standalone broadband service offered,” Roark said. “It cannot be buried in multiple clicks or reduced to a link, thumbnail, or icon that a consumer might miss.”

The agency has been exploring the use of broadband nutrition labels since the Obama administration, but this is the first time their use is mandatory. The commission adopted the rules in 2022 as directed by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

By October, smaller ISPs with less than 100,000 subscribers will also be required to display the labels. The FCC will monitor compliance through both consumer complaints and on its own, referring any relevant information to the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau for further investigation.