FCC proposes requirements for cable, satellite providers to disclose ‘all-in’ pricing

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FCC cable requirements overview: 

• Who: The Federal Communications Commission is proposing rules for cable and satellite television providers. 
• Why: Companies will be required to publish “all-in” pricing for video services rather than a base price with undisclosed required fees.
• Where: The rules apply across the United States.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed new rules on requirements for cable and satellite television providers that would mean they would have to provide “all-in pricing” for video services in both advertising and bills.

Currently, companies will advertise a base price and then add in required charges for items such as TV broadcast fee or regional sports programming surcharge separately instead of in the base price for services.

“The goal of this proposal is to provide consumers with the video programming service portion of their subscription payment for which they are or will be responsible in clear terms,” the FCC rule states. “This will allow consumers to make informed choices, including the ability to comparison shop among competing cable operators and DBS providers; compare programming costs against alternative programming providers, including streaming services; and budget for the actual amount that they will need to pay for cable or DBS video service every month.”

The FCC posted the proposed rules June 20 for 30 days of comment; the notice of proposed rulemaking allows 60 days for reply comments. The proposed rules were approved June 14.

Goal of new rules are to help consumers get real price for services, chairwoman says

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel believes the “all-in” pricing requirements will be an extension of a recent requirement that broadband companies provide a nutrition-style label of fees to consumers. Those labels have been challenged in court by providers such as Verizon, who state producing individual labels for each consumer in the country will cost providers exponentially more in customer service costs than have been estimated.

“Consumers deserve to know exactly what they are paying for when they sign up for a cable or direct broadcast satellite subscription,” Rosenworcel said. “No one likes surprises on their bill. The advertised price for a service should be the price you pay when your bill arrives, rather than hide a bunch of junk fees that are separate from the top-line service price.”

The FCC recently announced plans to create a new privacy and data protection task force to support the agency’s efforts to protect consumer data online.

Have you received unexpected pricing on your cable or satellite bill? Let us know in the comments.

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