FCC to End Biden-Era Rule Requiring ISPs to List All Fees

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to roll back a key provision of its consumer protection rulebook, allowing internet service providers (ISPs) to stop listing all their fees in plain sight. This move, championed by industry lobby groups and backed by the FCC, is seen as a victory for ISPs but raises serious questions about who this policy change benefits.

The requirement to list all fees was introduced in 2016 under Title II of the Communications Act, when the Obama-era FCC imposed it to promote transparency and consumer protection. Consumer advocacy groups like the Utility Reform Network (URN) argued that ISPs should display all their charges and fees prominently, making it easier for consumers to compare prices and avoid sticker shock.

Industry lobby groups, such as USTelecom, have pushed back against this requirement, claiming it’s too burdensome for ISPs to list all their fees. In comments submitted to the FCC, USTelecom argued that machine-readable price information is only helpful for third-party researchers who aren’t the intended beneficiaries of this labeling requirement.

However, critics point out that many requirements, including fee disclosure, are designed to protect consumers from exploitation by ISPs. The industry’s pushback against regulatory oversight has been ongoing, with ISPs arguing that new rules and regulations stifle innovation and drive up costs.

This policy change comes at a time when regulators have shown increasing willingness to bend to industry pressure. Last year’s repeal of net neutrality rules allowed ISPs to prioritize their own content over competitors’, and this rollback of fee disclosure requirements suggests further evidence of regulatory capture – where special interest groups’ interests outweigh those of the broader public.

Critics argue that compliance costs are a thinly veiled attempt by ISPs to conceal how they calculate prices. ISPs often use opaque practices like “passthrough fees” to pass on external charges to consumers without transparency, critics say.

As regulators continue down a path of deregulation, it’s worth considering what this means for consumer protection and regulatory oversight in America. The consequences are likely to benefit corporate interests at the expense of everyday people.

The move also raises questions about how changes will impact comparison shopping tools, which were developed due to increased transparency offered by machine-readable labels. As ISPs conceal their practices, new technologies may struggle to fill this knowledge gap.

In reality, this policy change is less about deregulation than it is about who gets to decide what information consumers need to make informed decisions about their internet service. For now, the pendulum seems to be swinging firmly in favor of industry interests – and ordinary Americans are likely to pay the price.