Internet Pricing to Get Less Transparent

Internet Pricing Is About to Get a Lot Less Transparent

https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/internet-pricing-is-about-to-get-a-lot-less-transparent/

Broadband "nutrition" labels were designed to help consumers navigate complicated internet pricing. The FCC just voted to restrict where and how they're used.

.. On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to water down its requirements. Tuesday's vote was technically a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” which will allow public comment before a final vote. .. ..

I’ve been writing about broadband for seven years, and I can tell you firsthand how difficult it is to find basic plan information from many ISPs. Between price increases, hidden fees and advertised speeds, it felt like you needed a law degree to find out what you’d actually be paying each month. 

Now, the FCC looks poised to return internet customers to the dark. .. . Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, called the proposal "one of the most anti-consumer items I have seen."

“What adds insult to injury is that the FCC does not even explain why this proposal is necessary,” Gomez said. “Make it make sense. Instead of scaling back the information that customers receive, we should be making sure that, in fact, they can benefit from the labels.” 

Broadband labels have generally been well-received by customers. One 2024 survey study of more than 2,500 broadband consumers found that 85% of respondents found them useful for comparison shopping.   .. ..

.. ... In other words, ISPs include so many fees on their plans that they shouldn’t be required to list them all. 

“You're telling us that you've made up so many fees to put under the fold that you can't fit them on a label, and that's unfair?” said Panjwani. “You know, you could just include that in your cost of service. Nothing is stopping you from doing that.”

... ..“There have been some actions by the commission that are kind of anti-consumer,” Alisa Valentin, broadband policy director at the nonprofit Public Knowledge, told CNET. “I worry that if we chip away a little bit here, what's going to stop them from trying to come up with another proposal to chip away some more to the point that the labels are essentially useless?” ...