FCC Regulation Document

Part: 
Topic: C

47 CFR 8.1 (up to date as of 2/20/2024)
                                                                                              47 CFR 8.1 (Feb. 20, 2024)
Transparency.

This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.

Title 47 —Telecommunication
Chapter I —Federal Communications Commission
Subchapter A —General
Part 8 —Internet Freedom
      Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 201(b), 257, 303(r), and 1753.
      Source: 76 FR 59232, Sept. 23, 2011, unless otherwise noted.

§ 8.1 Transparency.
      (a) Any person providing broadband internet access service shall publicly disclose accurate information
          regarding the network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of its
          broadband internet access services sufficient to enable consumers to make informed choices regarding
          the purchase and use of such services and entrepreneurs and other small businesses to develop, market,
          and maintain internet offerings. Such disclosure shall be made via a publicly available, easily accessible
          website or through transmittal to the Commission.

            (1) Any person providing broadband internet access service shall create and display an accurate
                broadband consumer label for each stand-alone broadband internet access service it currently offers
                for purchase. The label must be prominently displayed, publicly available, and easily accessible to
                consumers, including consumers with disabilities, at the point of sale with the content and in the
                format prescribed by the Commission in “[Fixed or Mobile] Broadband Consumer Disclosure,” in
                figure 1 to this paragraph (a)(1).

Figure 1 to Paragraph (a)(1)—[Fixed or Mobile] Broadband Consumer Disclosure Label

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47 CFR 8.1 (up to date as of 2/20/2024)
                                          47 CFR 8.1(a)(1)
Transparency.

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                                                                                                         47 CFR 8.1(a)(2)
Transparency.

           (2) Broadband internet access service providers shall display the label required under paragraph (a)(1)
               of this section at each point of sale. Point of sale is defined to mean a provider's website and any
               alternate sales channels through which the provider's broadband internet access service is sold,
               including a provider-owned retail location, third-party retail location, and over the phone. For labels
               displayed on provider websites, the label must be displayed in close proximity to the associated
               advertised service plan. Point of sale also means the time a consumer begins investigating and
               comparing broadband service offerings available to them at their location. For alternate sales
               channels, providers must document each instance when it directs a consumer to a label and retain
               such documentation for two years. This requirement will be deemed satisfied if, instead, the
               provider: establishes the business practices and processes it will follow in distributing the label
               through alternative sales channels; retains training materials and related business practice
               documentation for two years; and provides such information to the Commission upon request, within
               thirty days. Point of sale for purposes of the E-Rate and Rural Health Care programs is defined as the
               time a service provider submits its bid to a program participant. Providers participating in the E-Rate
               and Rural Health Care programs must provide their labels to program participants when they submit
               their bids to participants. Broadband internet access service providers that offer online account
               portals to their customers shall also make each customer's label easily accessible to the customer
               in such portals.

           (3) The content of the label required under paragraph (a)(1) of this section must be displayed on the
               broadband internet access service provider's website in a machine-readable format. Broadband
               internet access service providers must provide the information in any label separately in a
               spreadsheet file format on their websites via a dedicated uniform resource locator (URL) that
               contains all of their labels. Providers must publicize the URL with the label data in the transparency
               disclosures required under this paragraph (a).

           (4) The label required under paragraph (a)(1) of this section must be provided in English and in any other
               languages in which the broadband internet access service provider markets its services in the United
               States.

           (5) Broadband internet access service providers shall maintain an archive of all labels required under
               paragraph (a)(1) of this section for a period of no less than two years from the time the service plan
               reflected in the label is no longer available for purchase by a new subscriber and the provider has
               removed the label from its website or alternate sales channels. Providers must provide any archived
               label to the Commission, upon request, within thirty days. Providers must provide an archived label,
               upon request and within thirty days, to an existing customer whose service plan is associated with
               the particular label. A provider is not required to display a label once the associated service plan is
               no longer offered to new subscribers.

           (6) Broadband consumer label requirements and the transparency rule in paragraph (a) of this section
               are subject to enforcement using the same processes and procedures. The label required under
               paragraph (a)(1) of this section is not a safe harbor from the transparency rule or any other
               requirements established by the Commission.

           (7) Compliance with paragraphs (a)(1), (2), and (4) through (6) of this section for providers with 100,000
               or fewer subscriber lines is required as of October 10, 2024, and for all other providers is required as
               of April 10, 2024, except that compliance with the requirement in paragraph (a)(2) of this section to
               make labels accessible in online account portals will not be required for all providers until October
               10, 2024. Compliance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section is required for all providers as of October
               10, 2024.

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47 CFR 8.1 (up to date as of 2/20/2024)
                                                                                                                  47 CFR 8.1(b)
Transparency.

     (b) Broadband internet access service is a mass-market retail service by wire or radio that provides the
         capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints, including any
         capabilities that are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service, but excluding
         dial-up internet access service. This term also encompasses any service that the Commission finds to be
         providing a functional equivalent of the service described in the previous sentence or that is used to
         evade the protections set forth in this part. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(1) through (6) of this section,
         “mass-market” services exclude service offerings customized for the customer through individually
         negotiated agreements even when the services are supported by federal universal service support.

     (c) A network management practice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achieving a legitimate
         network management purpose, taking into account the particular network architecture and technology of
         the broadband internet access service.

[83 FR 7922, Feb. 22, 2018, as amended at 87 FR 76978, Dec. 16, 2022; 88 FR 52043, Aug. 7, 2023; 88 FR 63859, Sept. 18, 2023;
88 FR 73535, Oct. 26, 2023]

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