{"id":19195,"date":"2025-07-24T05:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19195"},"modified":"2025-07-24T16:35:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T20:35:02","slug":"fixing-what-isnt-broken-why-the-crtc-should-rethink-broadband-labels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19195","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking broadband labels"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following piece about the CRTC’s Broadband Labels proceeding<\/a> appeared as an OpEd in The Hill Times<\/a> on July 23 and The Wire Report<\/a> on July 24.<\/p>\n

\n

Fixing what isn\u2019t broken: Why the CRTC should rethink broadband labels<\/h4>\n

<\/a>What started as a straightforward question \u2014 how best to measure and present broadband speeds to consumers \u2014 has spiraled into a regulatory exercise in search of a problem.<\/p>\n

The CRTC\u2019s ongoing push to mandate standardized broadband labels is a solution that\u2019s not only unnecessary in the Canadian context, but one that has failed to deliver meaningful results elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The Commission\u2019s own consumer research tells a clear story: Canadians already find the information provided by their internet service providers useful and easy to understand. Consumers report being able to compare options and make informed choices based on what\u2019s available in the market. That should be the end of the story.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Instead of recognizing that the system is working well, the CRTC doubled down on the idea of creating a standardized “nutrition label” for broadband services\u2014mirroring an approach taken in the United States. The problem? There\u2019s no evidence the U.S. model works. On the contrary, data cited by Cogeco in its submission to the CRTC shows that only 2% of customers of its U.S.-based services even look at the broadband label. For a public policy tool that\u2019s supposed to empower consumers, that figure should raise serious concerns.<\/p>\n

In fact, the U.S. experience should be viewed as a cautionary tale. While standardized labels may seem appealing on paper, they haven\u2019t improved consumer outcomes in practice. Other countries, like the UK and Australia, have opted not to mandate such labels. Rather than micromanaging how companies communicate service information, they\u2019ve recognized that companies should have the flexibility to display product information provided it is accurate and not misleading.<\/p>\n

The Canadian broadband landscape, while not perfect, is delivering results. Consumers are better informed than ever. Providers have every incentive to communicate clearly in a competitive marketplace where switching is relatively easy, and transparency is expected. Rather than enhancing transparency, a mandatory label risks becoming a costly distraction from the issues that matter most to consumers.<\/p>\n

Complying with a prescriptive labelling mandate requires service providers to invest time, money, and ongoing IT system changes. These are finite resources that could be \u2014 and should<\/em> be \u2014 spent on things that matter more to consumers: expanding rural coverage, boosting network speeds, and improved resiliency.<\/p>\n

Instead, if the CRTC imposes a standard label requirement, we\u2019re likely to see a label very few Canadians will read, developed through a lengthy regulatory process that has only a self-congratulatory press release issued by the CRTC to show for it. For the average consumer, the impact will be negligible. Meanwhile, the opportunity cost will be very real.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to say the CRTC shouldn\u2019t care about consumer transparency. It absolutely should. But it needs to pick its tools carefully. When the existing approach is working, when international evidence points the failure of labeling mandates, and when the cost of action outweighs the benefit, regulators should resist the urge to do something for the sake of doing something<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s telecommunications future depends not just on investment and innovation, but on smart, focused regulation. This is a moment for the CRTC to embrace pragmatism over performative policy. It should resist the temptation to fix that which isn\u2019t broken \u2014 and acknowledge that sometimes doing nothing is the best option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following piece about the CRTC’s Broadband Labels proceeding appeared as an OpEd in The Hill Times on July 23 and The Wire Report on July 24. Fixing what isn\u2019t broken: Why the CRTC should rethink broadband labels What started as a straightforward question \u2014 how best to measure and present broadband speeds to consumers …<\/p>\n

Rethinking broadband labels<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRethinking broadband labels • Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The following piece about the CRTC's Broadband Labels proceeding appeared as an OpEd in The Hill Times on July 23 and The Wire Report on July 24. 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Fixing what isn\u2019t broken: Why the CRTC should rethink broadband labels What started as a straightforward question \u2014 how best to measure and present broadband speeds to consumers…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19195"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19206,"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19195\/revisions\/19206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}