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DA 18-528
Released: May 21, 2018

CONSUMER AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS BUREAU ESTABLISHES TRANSPARENCY DISCLOSURES PORTAL FOR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS AND CONSUMERS

WC Docket No. 17-108

As required by the Restoring Internet Freedom Order, with this Public Notice, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, in coordination with the Wireline Competition Bureau, establishes a portal for Internet service provider (ISP) transparency disclosures. See Restoring Internet Freedom, Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and Order, WC Docket No. 17-108, 33 FCC Rcd at 439-42, paras. 218-227 (2018) (Restoring Internet Freedom Order or Order).

  The Order becomes effective on June 11, 2018, See Wireline Competition Bureau Announces Effective Date of Restoring Internet Freedom Order, Public Notice, WC Docket No. 17-108, DA 18-485 (2018).

 and the revised transparency rule – 47 CFR § 8.1(a) – requires ISPs to publicly disclose information about their service in one of two ways – by providing the disclosure on a publicly available, easily accessible website or by submitting it to the FCC for posting. See 47 CFR § 8.1(a) (“Any person providing broadband internet access service shall publicly disclose accurate information regarding the network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of its broadband internet access services sufficient to enable consumers to make informed choices regarding the purchase and use of such services and entrepreneurs and other small businesses to develop, market, and maintain internet offerings. Such disclosure shall be made via a publicly available, easily accessible website or through transmittal to the Commission.”).



ISPs choosing to submit their required disclosures to the FCC should do so electronically, in a format that is accessible to people with disabilities, See Restoring Internet Freedom Order, 33 FCC Rcd at 444, para. 229.

 through http://www.fcc.gov/isp-disclosures.  On May 29, 2018, this portal will be available for both ISPs submitting their disclosures to the FCC and consumers searching for any disclosures submitted to the FCC. While the Order and rule don’t become effective until June 11, 2018, ISPs choosing to submit their disclosures to the FCC for posting will be able to do so in advance, starting on May 29, 2018.


An ISP that does not submit its required disclosure to the FCC through this portal will be deemed as having elected to provide it on a publicly available, easily accessible website of its choosing.  An ISP that submits its required disclosure to the FCC and later elects to provide it on a publicly available, easily accessible website of its choosing should inform the FCC of this change by filing via the FCC portal a clear statement of the change, including the website where consumers can find the required disclosure.

Consumers will be able to use the FCC portal to access ISP disclosures or information on where to find the disclosure for each ISP that previously submitted a disclosure to the FCC.  For an ISP that has made no submissions through the FCC portal, consumers should contact the ISP or search for its disclosure on the web.

ISPs and consumers with questions about the ISP Transparency Disclosures Portal should contact ISPdisclosures@fcc.gov.
	-FCC-