FCC to vote on rolling back broadband label transparency requirements

The proposal marks a shift toward reducing the administrative burden on ISPs by aggregating passthrough fees and relaxing point-of-sale display rules. For consumers, this likely means more opaque pricing as itemized surcharges are replaced by 'up to' fee estimates and hidden behind clicks. For the broader industry, the removal of machine-readable data significantly degrades the ability of third-party platforms to provide automated, side-by-side market competition analysis. Watch for the July 22 vote outcome to see if Commissioner Anna Gomez’s 'anti-consumer' concerns trigger any last-minute amendments to the order.

The broadband labels, modeled after FDA nutrition labels, became a mandatory requirement for most ISPs on April 10, 2024, following directives from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Smaller providers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers were given until October 10, 2024, to comply. Per Light Reading, the Biden administration initially promoted these labels as a key weapon against 'junk fees,' requiring the disclosure of introductory rates, data allowances, and typical latency. However, by late 2025, the FCC began investigating ways to streamline the rules, leading to the current proposal to roll back multiple disclosure layers.

Opposition to the rollback has intensified among consumer advocacy groups. Per PCMag in July 2026, a coalition including the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society warned the FCC that stripping itemized fees would undermine the labels' primary purpose by hiding the true cost of service. Furthermore, per 9to5Mac, the removal of machine-readable CSV files is viewed as a major blow to comparison-shopping sites, as it prevents automated scripts from aggregating current plan data across different zip codes. Proponents of the change, including some industry groups, argue that the original 2022 framework created unnecessary 'cognitive burdens' by providing too much granular detail that confused the average shopper.

Regulatory friction remains high within the commission itself. While FCC Bureau Chief Ed Bartholme has defended the move as a way to prioritize 'actionable information,' Commissioner Anna Gomez has frequently dissented, noting that the proposed changes could effectively hide the very information Congress intended for consumers to have. According to Telecompetitor in July 2026, fifteen Democratic senators also formally requested the FCC refrain from scaling back these transparency tools, highlighting the political divide over how much technical and financial data ISPs should be forced to disclose at the point of sale.