FCC Delays Comment Deadlines on Controversial Broadband Labels FNPRM
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Monday delayed comment deadlines by two weeks on a further NPRM proposing various changes to the agency's broadband label rules. Under the new deadlines, comments are due Jan. 16, replies Feb. 16, in docket 22-2. That’s less time than the 30-day extension sought by New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Utility Reform Network (see 2512220020).
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“A brief extension will help commenters to develop more comprehensive responses to the issues presented in the item without jeopardizing the Commission’s ability to move forward expeditiously with this proceeding,” the bureau said.
"Every little bit helps, especially in light of the number of proceedings that are due in the same time frame,” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld told us Monday. While an extra 30 days would have been better, “we'll happily take two weeks.”
The FNPRM has faced some pushback in short comments filed so far, most of which don’t offer identifying information beyond the name of the filer. “Transparency on charges and fees is of the utmost importance,” said Julie Adair and Chance Terrill in typical comments. Relaxing regulations “only harms consumers and allows corporations to pass on and hide fees in their service costs.”
It’s “difficult to compare offerings between companies and … helpful to have a standard format that companies must fill out,” said Patricia McGuire. Michael Walker cited a men's clothing company's advertising statement "that 'An Educated Consumer is our best customer.'" Consumers "should always know exactly what we are paying for," he said.
Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnerships called on the FCC not to retrench on consumer labels. The program “was implemented only recently, and while improvement and streamlining are appropriate, a full rollback of these requirements would disproportionately harm vulnerable populations,” the group said. “Simplification should not come at the expense of consumer understanding.”
The FCC approved the rules unanimously in 2022. Commissioner Anna Gomez opposed the FNPRM in October (see 2510280024), noting that she usually votes to support such notices to “encourage fruitful and helpful public comment.” But the questions posed in the FNPRM “are deeply anti-consumer, and I could not bring myself to even agree to them,” she said in her dissent.