Nutrition labels for broadband internet are finally nearly here

Six years after we saw FCC formally proposes “nutrition labels” For the array of potentially confusing plans from its carrier, the agency says it’s finally happening. This week, is ordering ISPs in the US will or will adopt the label format you’re seeing below as soon as some of the latest red tape is ironed out.

They have changed a bit since 2016; now apparently each plan will have its own label instead of ISPs trying to cram them all on one sheet they don’t warn you. about coverage, and apparently, ISPs will be able to tell you the legalese of their network management policy instead of having to punish themselves for throttling data or giving some apps a fast lane. It seems they won’t have to report packet loss either.

Fortunately, ISPs will still need to report their typical speeds and latency, not just reiterate its advertised speed. Hopefully someone will audit that.

Most large ISPs will have six months to place the new tags on their websites and distribute them to stores, though the FCC gives those with fewer than 100,000 subscribers a full year to comply. But none of those shooting clocks start until the Office of Management and Budget reviews the order to make sure it complies with the Paperwork Reduction Act and similar statutes, the FCC notes, so it could take a little longer.

Meanwhile, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel suggests that ISPs might want to get ahead of the game and adopt it on their own.

The FCC also says it expects these labels to evolve from here, so it’s also seeking feedback on some additional changes, including “more comprehensive pricing information, bundled plans, label accessibility, performance features, service reliability, cyber security, network management and privacy issues, the availability of labels in multiple languages, and whether the labels should be interactive or have a different format so that the information contained within them is clearer and more effectively conveyed.”