The rule took effect in April 2024 after the FCC rejected ISPs’ complaints that listing every fee they created would be too difficult. The rule applies specifically to recurring monthly fees “that providers impose at their discretion, i.e., charges not mandated by a government.”
ISPs could comply with the rule either by listing the fees or by dropping the fees altogether and, if they choose, raising their overall prices by a corresponding amount. But the latter option wouldn’t fit with the strategy of enticing customers with a low advertised price and hitting them with the real price on their monthly bills. The broadband price label rules were created to stop ISPs from advertising misleadingly low prices.
the importance of local, community run mesh networks is growing by the day. We need to make this the norm going into the 2030s.
once FCC kills the requirement, there will be a new undisclosed fee called “the FCC made us go do all this for nothing” fee.
…or so I think. win-win
Do Americans pay specific fees for different internet usages?
I thought it was like everywhere else, ok we give 100/100 internet and you pay us 30 moneys every month, done.
ISPs like to offer, say $65 for service (without committing to a specific speed… Their 100/100 service is “up to 100Mbps” and not a guarantee.)
They then want to charge a modem rental fee - another $5/mo. They want to charge a wifi access point rental fee - another $5/mo. They want to charge various regulatory fees, universal access fees, taxes, etc. They want their advertisements to say “$65/mo”, but they want to collect more like $90/mo.
You can buy your own modem and save that $5/mo (but they often push back against that, claiming your modem isn’t compatible, or that other customers have complained about inferior service with that modem). You can use your own wifi AP and save that $5/mo (but again, they discourage it…) You can’t get away from the regulatory fees.
Hah!
How else do you think that US ISPs screw over their customers? I mean, poor guys! Do we really want them to stop cheating now?
ISPs said listing fees was too hard
Only in America. What a shit country!!!
The laughing stock of the civilized world. 🤣🤣🤣You say that like any American doesn’t know the actual reason they don’t want to list the fees
It’s not that we don’t know - it’s that we are seemingly powerless to do anything about it. You can’t sue, they’re in legal compliance. You can’t take your money elsewhere, because ISPs often have monopolies in their areas of operation. You can’t count on your reps to regulate, because both parties work tirelessly to install pro-corporate establishment figures at all levels of government. You’re not even allowed to crowd source bribe money for said politicians, because they’ll claim you aren’t a legitimate lobby if you represent the people instead of a special interest.
For a country that loves to bleat on about rejecting tyranny, we certainly seem to welcome it with zero resistance in nearly all facets of life. Capitalism has completely failed us, and I think it’s probably humorous to those on the outside because most Americans refuse to admit it despite the glaringly obvious problems we’re now faced with.
Exactly, Democracy didn’t fail USA, but Americans failed democracy.
- American ISP’sDid you expect them to admit that they just wanted to arbitrarily charge more money with zero oversight or transparency?
Disclosing things is too hard for ultra profitable economic parasites. :(
https://www.investors.com/news/trump-earnings-reports-six-months/
Anything to be able to blow the bubble a bit bigger I guess?
Outside of AI, it’s already shrinking
They all just don’t want to be the first company to admit how bad things are
As someone long accustomed to ISP bills that say little more than “you owe us $60 this month for 1 Internet” I’m finding it hard to imagine what is going on over there.
Over here it’s “you owe us $55 for 1 Internet, another $10 for your modem rental, $5 distribution fees, $9 local surcharge and $10 e-bill fee”. (Note there there is also a $12 paper bill fee if you don’t want the e-bill)
Don’t forget the $3 “governance” fee (not from the government), the $5 “line maintenance” fee, the $7 “I’m sure there was a reason for this one but we forgot” fee, and the $50 “fuck you we have a monopoly on this apartment what are you gonna do about it” fee.
don’t forget the ‘there will be an additional $7.50 used anal probe flavored fee beginning next month’
And I suppose your electric bill doesn’t have a “transport fee” that’s two to three times the amount you pay for the electricity you actually use.
nope. but we have an ‘account charge’ per meter, as well as a ‘cost adjustment’ that has never adjusted lower.
we’ve also had charges for meter replacements we never asked for or needed… not like the old spinny dial ones were broken. or the first digital one they put in… or the second. or the… i’m on my fifth meter in 25 years.
I wonder if this is part of the reason why Cox stopped listing their small business plans and prices online.
And then there’s the “promotional discount” that expires after a year or two, requiring you to call back in and threaten to cancel your service before they’ll give you back the same price you were already paying. It helps if you actually have other ISP options.
I also think you should not be allowed to abandon your copper infrastructure without offering a replacement. AT&T refuses to offer new DSL service even if they have an old POTS line connected to your house because “we don’t do DSL anymore” but I guarantee they would have a problem with it if I ripped their pedistal out of my front yard.
Cox is a piece of shit company and would most definitely fuck over their customers asap.
we used to have a phrase in the DSL support world when customers would threaten to go to Cox, “Go suck Cox, you’ll be back.”
I wonder if this is part of the reason why Cox stopped listing their small business plans and prices online. And then there’s the “promotional discount” that expires after a year or two, requiring you to call back in and threaten to cancel your service before they’ll give you back the same price you were already paying. It helps if you actually have other ISP options.
Can confirm that’s by design, AT&T employs the exact same strategy with their business customers and forcing them into “All-for-less” bundle package.
Need a POTS line? $95 + taxes and fees per month, local service only, call features extra.
But get a POTS line and a $15 a month 250mb data plan on a tablet? Suddenly the POTS lime is $30 including long distance and all call features you normally take for granted included (call waiting, call forwarding, etc).
Of course, that price is guaranteed for a year and you’ll have to call billing (sales) to get it sorted out again.
We’ve let ISP’s get away with murder in the U.S.
fee for the cable guy to climb to 4th floor
“Does that mean there’s no longer a fee to pay the fees?”
“No, we just don’t tell you about the fee fee.”
Michael Jackson tribute rep: “the fee fee, hee hee”
