Key Facts
- Federal final rule: The FCC modified broadband consumer-label requirements rather than eliminating the labels.
- Effective dates: The Section 8.1(b) amendment takes effect September 14, 2026, while the Section 8.1(a) amendments await a later notice.
- Consumer access: Disability-accessibility and marketing-language requirements remain in place.
The Federal Communications Commission published a final rule changing broadband consumer-label requirements, affecting how people compare internet plans. The rule appeared in the Federal Register on August 13, 2026.
The FCC had adopted the underlying Report and Order on July 22 and released it on July 23. Federal Register publication is therefore a later procedural step, not the date the agency first decided the policy.
What changes for phone sales
Broadband labels provide standardized information about a plan’s price, fees, performance and other terms. The new rule keeps telephone sales within the definition of a point of sale.
Sales representatives will no longer have to read an entire label word for word. They must instead give a conversational oral summary of specified information.
That summary must cover the monthly price and monthly fees, including any introductory rate and its duration. It must also address typical upload and download speeds, latency, data allowances, contract duration and any early-termination fee.
The FCC declined to require representatives to offer the complete label by text, email or mail. It encouraged providers to direct phone customers to labels on their websites.
How providers may present fees
The rule gives providers a new option for certain passthrough fees that vary by location. A passthrough fee is a location-dependent cost imposed on a provider that the provider chooses to charge to customers.
A provider may show the exact total for a location or a maximum “up to” amount. Providers may also continue itemizing the qualifying fees.
When using a maximum, the label must separate government-related passthrough fees from fees tied to nongovernment infrastructure owners. The label must identify the types of fees in each category and direct consumers to explanatory information.
The flexibility does not allow providers to hide every monthly charge. Provider-set fees and charges that do not vary by location generally remain subject to itemization unless included in the stated base price.
Links, icons and removed requirements
Providers may use a clearly identified link or icon instead of placing the complete label beside an advertised plan. The link or icon must connect directly to that plan’s label and appear close to the advertised plan.
Providers may similarly use a link or icon to make a customer’s current-plan label accessible inside an account portal. The rule also removes the label field for the concluded Affordable Connectivity Program.
Separate requirements for a machine-readable label database and a two-year archive of discontinued-plan labels are eliminated. Labels for plans currently offered to consumers still must be available.
What the rule preserves
The FCC did not abolish broadband labels. Providers must continue creating a label for each covered standalone broadband service they currently offer.
The labels must remain accessible to people with disabilities. Providers must also display them in every language used to market the service.
The completed rulemaking reflected competing concerns. Providers and trade groups described costs, web-design problems and clutter associated with the earlier requirements.
Consumer, public-interest and accessibility participants emphasized immediate access, comparable fee information and usable disclosures for telephone shoppers. The FCC retained phone disclosures and accessibility protections while granting providers added presentation flexibility.
When the changes take effect
The timing is split between two parts of the regulation. The amendment to Section 8.1(b), which adds definitions, takes effect September 14, 2026.
The broader Section 8.1(a) amendments are delayed pending any required Paperwork Reduction Act review. The FCC will announce their effective date in a later notice.
The agency also directed its Consumer Protection and Accessibility Advisory Committee to assess whether the labels are reaching consumers and remaining accessible. Its first report is due no later than two years after Federal Register publication, with further reports every four years.
