What the Tech with Jamey Tucker: Broadband Labels
Broadband Labels
We’ve all experienced the difficulty of shopping for a new phone plan. Even shoppers going
inside the store might have trouble understanding what they’re signing up for and how much
they’ll be paying each month.
Now the government is requiring wireless companies to put labels on their phone plans.
“The FCC, a few years back came up with this idea of coming up with a way for consumers to
more easily digest the information they’re hearing from broadband providers.”
Verizon’s Steve Van Dinter tells me the new labels are already familiar to consumers since they
look like the nutritional labels on grocery items. Easy to read, easy to comprehend.
“You’re going to see at the top, what the monthly price is, and what you’re going to see as you
go down, is whether are there any additional charges or terms that are revised,” Van Dinter
explains.
Verizon is already using the labels ahead of the FCC’s April 10th deadline. You’ll see them on
Verizon’s website and in stores. Each representative has a tablet to display the labels to help
customers decide on a plan. The FCC requires the labels to be visible and available to
consumers at any point of sale.
Consumers often sign up for a plan at one price and are shocked to find out it was just an
introductory price and the phone bill jumps by $50 or so a month. The broadband labels spell
out those terms along with all fees and taxes.
“The top piece, the $80 that you saw and the additional fees, that is the most you will ever see
on your bill because it doesn’t include those discounts,” Van Dinter said. “So you’ll see the
discounts in this section and that will be subtracted off that top piece.”
Another key part of the broadband labels is information about upload and download speeds
provided in the plan.
Van Dinter says the labels are available online and can be printed out to help consumers
compare prices and plans of all the carriers. “And what you can do is then take these labels
side-by-side with any provider you’re thinking of doing business with, and see what you’re
getting and what you’re paying.”
If consumers don’t see the labels displayed in stores or on the websites by April 10th, you
should file a complaint with the FCC. The April deadline is for major wireless carriers such as
Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Smaller carriers (those with fewer than 100,000 customers) have
until October to comply with the FCC requirement.
