Critics argue that the FCC’s attempt to address unintended effects of its regulation would prevent consumers from being able to understand the true cost of telecoms services
Broadband labels have been criticised for being overly complex and confusing
On 22 July 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a Report and Order to modify broadband label rules in the US, with a view to making them “easier to read and understand and more useful for consumers, while reducing compliance burdens on providers”. The changes form part of the FCC’s ongoing “Delete, Delete, Delete” agenda established by Brendan Carr (Chair, FCC) after his appointment in January 2025, which looks to eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulation across the industries the FCC oversees. The regulator adopted broadband labels in 2022, with operators being required to display them from 2024. While the labels were designed specifically to resemble the nutrition labels that have appeared on US food products for many years, they have been criticised as being overly complex and difficult to navigate, often confusing consumers rather than empowering them. Experiences in other countries (such as the ‘traffic light’ system for fixed broadband in Italy) have shown that well-intentioned attempts to improve transparency and fairness can lead to similar unintentional consequences. Industry groups have welcomed the FCC’s changes, with the CTIA stating that they will preserve key information that consumers need while “reducing the complexity that created clutter and risked confusion”.
The FCC’s changes target the elimination of redundant or outdated information
The Report and Order retains essential information on broadband labels, allowing consumers to compare plans easily, while eliminating some more redundant details. For example, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was an initiative designed to help low-income households cover broadband costs through subsidies of $30 (£23) a month. The programme ended in May 2024, just one month after labels were introduced, but operators still had to display whether they participated in the programme. This requirement has now been removed, alongside the following changes:
Allowing phones-sales representatives to present information conversationally rather than reading the label to a customer verbatim;
Simplifying the inclusion of variable passthrough fees;
Eliminating the two-year label archiving requirement for discontinued plans;
Allowing operators to provide the label through links, QR codes or icons in customer account portals instead of displaying the whole label; and
Retaining the requirement to display labels in English and in any other language(s) in which an operator markets its services.
Consumer groups have criticised removing the itemised display of passthrough fees
A particular issue related to broadband labels has been with itemised passthrough fees, which are extra charges that can arise from government entities or third-party suppliers, and vary depending on location. Due to the variable nature of these fees, the FCC noted that the excess detail could draw consumers’ attention away from more important information on the label, making it more confusing rather than more transparent. As a result, the FCC decided to simplify the presentation of passthrough fees on labels, allowing operators to display them as an “up to” maximum or jurisdiction-specific total, rather than a full itemisation. This has been a controversial move, with a coalition of consumer groups opposing the change, stating that “stripping away itemised fees would directly undermine the purpose of broadband labels” and that a full list of charges helps consumers assess the true cost of telecoms services. The FCC, however, determined that this change would benefit both consumers and operators by reducing the burden on operators to create a full itemised list while also making the labels less confusing for consumers.
