Skip to main content Skip to search


Browse by
                    category
                Browse by
                    bureaus & offices
            About the FCC
          About the FCC
                      About the FCC Overview
                                                      What We Do
                                                      Rulemaking Process
                                                      Leadership
                                                      FCC Initiatives
                                                      Find People
                                                      Organizational Charts
                                                      Advisory Committees
                                                      Jobs and Internships
                                                      Contracting
                                                      Strategic Plans & Budgets
                                                      Contact
                                                                    FY 2025 Congressional Budget Justification
                                                      Privacy Policy
                                                      Accessibility Program
                Proceedings & Actions
          Proceedings & Actions
                      Proceedings and Actions Overview
                                                      Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS)
                                                      Commission Documents (EDOCS)
                                                      Most Active Proceedings
                                                      Items on Circulation
                                                      Ex-Parte
                                                      Daily Digest
                                                      Mergers & Transactions
                                                      Auctions
                Licensing & Databases
          Licensing & Databases
                      Overview
                                                      About Licensing
                                                      Databases
                                                      Fees
                                                      Forms
                                                      FCC Registration System (CORES)
                                                      System Alerts & Notifications
                                                      ASR
                                                      CDBS
                                                      CEFS
                                                      COALS
                                                      CORES
                                                      CSRS
                                                      DIRS
                                                      EA
                                                      ECFS
                                                      EDOCS
                                                      ELS
                                                      ETFS
                                                      ETRS
                                                      GenMen
                                                      HAM
                                                      KDB
                                                      KIDVID
                                                      LMS
                                                      ICFS
                                                      NORS
                                                      PIF
                                                      PIRATE
                                                      PSIX-ESIX
                                                      RLD
                                                      TCB
                                                      ULS
                                                      URS
                                                      VPD
                Reports & Research
          Reports & Research
                      Reports and Data Overview
                                                      Reports
                                                      Data
                                                      Guides
                                                                    Maps
                                                      Working Papers
                                                      For Developers
                                                                    Fiscal Year 2022-2026 Strategic Plan
                                                      Workload Dashboard
                News & Events
          News & Events
                      News and Events Overview
                                                      Headlines
                                                      Commission Meetings
                                                      Events
                                                      Archived Events
                                                      FCC Podcast
                                                      Notes from the FCC
                                                      FCC Blog
                                                      RSS Feeds & Email Signup
                                                                    April 2024 Open Commission Meeting
                For Consumers
          For Consumers
                      Help Center Overview
                                                                    Consumer Complaint Center
                                                      Disability Rights
                                                      Headlines
                                                      Social Media
                                                                    Robocalls
                                                                    Consumer Complaint Center
              Consumer
                Enforcement
                Media
                Public Safety
                Space
                Wireless
                Wireline
                Offices
    
                  Search
  

  X
  Search Home
              Consumer

  Broadband Consumer Labels For ConsumersBlank Sample LabelDownload full image: PDF | PNG | JPG(en español - PDF)Broadband Labels (Internet de Banda Ancha Etiquetas - en español) are designed to provide clear, easy-to-understand, and accurate information about the cost and performance of high-speed internet services. The labels are modeled after the FDA nutrition labels and are intended to help consumers comparison shop for the internet service plan that will best meet their needs and budget. Internet service providers that offer home, or fixed, internet services, or mobile broadband plans are required to have a label for each service plan they offer.Beginning April 10, 2024, consumers should look for broadband labels at any point of sale, including online and in stores. The labels must disclose important information about broadband prices, introductory rates, data allowances, and broadband speeds. They also include links to information about network management practices and privacy policies.A glossary (glosario en español) is available to help consumers better understand the information displayed on the label. To review a sample home internet, or fixed, label created by the FCC, download the home internet label in PDF format. You can also review a sample mobile broadband label in PDF format.While many providers will begin displaying their labels in April, providers with less than 100,000 subscribers have until Oct. 10, 2024, to comply with the FCC rules to display broadband labels at their points of sale.Filing a complaintIf a provider is not displaying their labels or has posted inaccurate information about its fees or service plans, consumers can file a complaint with the FCC Consumer Complaint Center at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.If you have a question about accessibility requirements for the Consumer Broadband Disclosure Labels, contact the FCC's Disability Rights office at 202-418-2517 for a voice phone call, at 844-432-2275 by videophone, or by email at DRO@fcc.govFor ProvidersLabel Samples - Fixed and MobileDownload full image: PDF | PNG | JPG(en español - PDF)Download full image: PDF | PNG | JPG(en español)The Federal Communications Commission has announced dates by which consumers will see new Broadband Consumer Labels when they shop for services: The majority of providers must display at the point of sale clear, easy-to-understand, and accurate information about the cost and performance of broadband services by April 10, 2024. Providers with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines must do so by October 10, 2024. Those points of sale include online and in-store.The FCC rules adopted in the Broadband Label Order respond to direction in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for the FCC to require providers to create consumer-friendly labels with information about their broadband services. The labels must disclose important information about broadband prices, introductory rates, data allowances, and broadband speeds. They must also include links to information about network management practices and privacy policies.*Note: While the initial Rules required providers to include information about their participation in the ACP, due to a lack of additional funding from Congress, April 2024 is the last fully funded month of the ACP benefit. As such, this requirement has been updated to reflect the anticipated end of the program. Learn more in this Public Notice:**https://www.fcc.gov/document/wcb-announces-final-month-affordable-connectivity-program-acp*In addition to creating a unique label for each service plan offered, providers must also make the information in the labels machine-readable to enable third parties to more easily collect and aggregate data for the purpose of creating comparison-shopping tools for consumers.Rules that providers must follow can be found in an FCC Report and Order (adopted Nov. 14, 2022), an Order amending the rules (adopted July 18, 2023), and an Order on Reconsideration (adopted August 25, 2023).The FCC is making the following resources available to providers for reference.Sample PDF LabelsBlank (en español)Fixed (en español)Mobile (en español)Template files that can be customized**Download**: Zip file with Adobe Illustrator (.ai) and Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) files (en español)The sample label that was included when the order was published in the federal register is available at this link: https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/Broadband-Label-Sample_1500.png. Please note this version includes the ACP section which is no longer required.These documents and other associated materials are provided as part of the requirements adopted by the Commission in Empowering Broadband Consumers Through Transparency, CG Docket No. 22-2, FCC 22-86. These materials are for guidance purposes only. The Commission's regulations, 47 CFR section 8.1(a), contain the specific requirements adopted by the Commission.History of ProceedingPublic Hearings on Broadband LabelsWatch the FCC's third public hearing on the broadband labels proceeding, May 25, 2022.Video: Second public hearing, April 7, 2022.Video: First public hearing, March 11, 2022.Access to accurate, simple-to-understand information about broadband internet access services helps consumers make informed choices and is central to a well-functioning marketplace that encourages competition, innovation, low prices, and high-quality service.The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed the FCC to require providers to display consumer-friendly labels with information about their broadband services. The adopted rules require broadband providers to display, at the point of sale, labels displaying key information consumers want − prices, speeds, fees, data allowances, and other critical information. The labels resemble the well-known nutrition labels that appear on food products and, to ensure the label benefits all consumers, the Commission adopted language and accessibility requirements for the label's display.The current broadband labels rules require several features designed to empower consumers as follows:**Prominent Display**. The Order ensures that consumers see their actual label when purchasing broadband by requiring providers to display the label – not simply an icon or link to the label – in close proximity to an associated plan advertisement.**Account Portals**. The Order requires ISPs to make each customer's label easily accessible to the customer in their online account portal, as well as to provide the label to an existing customer upon request.**Machine Readability**. To further assist with comparison shopping, the Order requires that providers make the information in the labels machine-readable to enable third parties to more easily collect and aggregate data for the purpose of creating comparison-shopping tools for consumers.Included in the adopted rules was an annotated sample of the label available at this link: https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/Broadband-Label-Sample_1500.png.The rules also included a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking exploring ways the FCC can refine and improve its rules in order to ensure that we further our consumer transparency goals.Public Hearings on the Proposed RulesThe Infrastructure Act required the FCC to adopt regulations within a year of its passage and to conduct a series of public hearings to help inform the labeling requirements.The FCC held three public hearings as a part of its broadband consumer labels rulemaking proceeding. The hearings assessed how consumers evaluate internet service plans and whether current disclosures are sufficient.The first hearing took place March 11, 2022. The purpose of the first hearing was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Commission's existing transparency rule and provide necessary background for the new label requirement, including whether additional disclosure requirements were necessary.A second hearing was held April 7, 2022. The second hearing focused directly on consumer testimony and explored in greater detail how information is conveyed and considered by consumers.A third hearing was held May 25, 2022. The third hearing focused on the experiences of digital navigators working with consumers to select broadband plans, federal agency representatives discussing lessons learned from existing federal government labels, and advocates working to meet the needs of the disability community while exploring how information is conveyed and considered by consumers.The hearings were streamed free to the public at FCC.gov/live, were recorded and are archived on the FCC's website.Comments on ProposalIn a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC sought comment on a number topics, including the following:Have broadband service offerings and consumers' use of broadband services changed sufficiently since the Commission approved labels in 2016 to necessitate modifications to the labels' content and/or format, or whether there are any other reasons to change the content or format of the labels?Where should the labels be displayed to best inform consumers?How should the Commission enforce the label requirement and ensure the accuracy of label content?The FCC also sought comment on implementation issues, including the time by which broadband providers should be required to display the labels. The comments period closed on March 24, 2022.On July 18, 2023, the Commission released an Order to update the template for the recently adopted broadband consumer label.The revised label template reflects a new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) application landing page available at GetInternet.gov, and clarifies that if a provider is required to display a Spanish version of the label, it must include the Spanish-language landing page for the ACP, AccedeaInternet.gov.This action does not modify or otherwise change any entity's underlying responsibilities under the Broadband Label Order.On March 4, 2024, the FCC issued a Public Notice that removed the requirement for inclusion of the reference to ACP participation. The ACP is winding down due to lack of funding to continue the program.2016 LabelsIn the 2015 Open Internet rules, the FCC asked its Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) "to recommend a disclosure format that should be clear and easy to read – similar to a nutrition label found on food items – to allow consumers to easily compare the services of different providers." The CAC developed mobile and fixed versions of a label that were released on April 4, 2016.Providers were not required to display the labels created in 2016. Those labels included a similar design format and were also intended to give consumers access to clear and easy to understand information about high-speed internet services.

        
        
                  **Bureau/Office:**
  Consumer and Governmental Affairs
            
                          Tags:
    
      
    ConsumersBroadband Consumer Issues
                    Internet
            
                          **Updated:**
                Tuesday, March 19, 2024
 Text
                  Federal Communications Commission
45 L Street NE
Washington, DC 20554

  Link
        Phone: 1-888-225-5322
              ASL Video Call: 1-844-432-2275
              Fax: 1-866-418-0232
              Contact Us
              Visiting FCC Facilities

          
          Link
        Website Policies & Notices
              Privacy Policy
              FOIA
              No Fear Act Data
              Digital Strategy
              Open Government Directive
              Plain Writing Act
              RSS Feeds & Email Updates
              Accessibility
              Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
              USA.gov

          
          Text
                  CATEGORIES

  Link
        About the FCC
              Proceedings & Actions
              Licensing & Databases
              Reports & Research
              News & Events
              For Consumers

          
          Text
                  BUREAUS & OFFICES

  Link
        Consumer
              Enforcement
              Inspector General
              Media
              Public Safety
              Space
              Wireless
              Wireline
              Offices


          Twitter
        Facebook
        Youtube
        Instagram

          Federal Communications Commission