The FCC has adopted a Report and Order easing several broadband consumer label requirements, concluding that certain obligations were unnecessarily burdensome or exceeded the agency’s mandate under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Order eliminates the requirement to retain retired labels for two years, removes the machine-readable data file requirement, and eliminates the Affordable Connectivity Program disclosure. It also gives providers greater flexibility in how they display labels online and at points of sale and allows customer service representatives to summarize certain label information during telephone inquiries rather than reciting labels verbatim. However, the agency declined to eliminate the multilingual label requirement.
While definitional changes will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, the revised substantive label obligations will not become effective until the FCC completes required Paperwork Reduction Act review and announces a compliance date in a future Public Notice.
