First Look at Broadband Labels

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Broadband Labels were implemented by internet service providers with more than 100,000 customers on or before April 10. I've looked at a lot of labels so far, and I have some observations. The first is that the labels are generally hard to find—they are not prominently displayed on provider websites because the FCC's rules say they only have to be displayed at 'points of sale.' One of the features of the labels is that a provider is supposed to provide a plain English description of its technology and network practices. Most have failed at this, and in my opinion, a customer trying to understand two competing providers is not going to understand the technology difference using the broadband labels. The labels are also not going to tell the public much about speeds. Comcast, CenturyLink, Mediacom, and Sparklight all cite ‘typical speeds’ which is not a term I've heard used before. Overall, the Broadband Labels do not fulfill the FCC’s goals of making it easier for customers to understand broadband products. For the most part, the descriptions of network practices are not written in plain English to help a potential customer understand the technology being used. The carefully crafted lawyer language in these sections makes it hard for even experienced industry folks to understand network management policies.