Creates the Broadband and Cable Price Notice Act (OR SEE FISC NOTE GF EX)

House Bill 798 creates Chapter 12-B of Title 51 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, establishing the Broadband and Cable Price Notice Act, which imposes advance notification requirements on broadband and cable service providers operating in Louisiana. The law requires providers to furnish clear and conspicuous written notice to affected customers at least thirty calendar days before implementing any price increase, with an exception allowing notice as soon as practicable but no later than the next billing cycle when price increases result from circumstances beyond the provider's reasonable control, such as programmer pass-through charges imposed with less than thirty days' notice to the provider. The statute defines key terms including broadband internet access service, cable or video service, customer, price increase, provider, and written notice, and establishes specific content requirements for notices, including itemized charges, effective dates, reasons for increases, and customer rights information. The law also grants customers the right to cancel or downgrade affected services without incurring early termination fees or penalties if they provide notice of cancellation on or before the effective date or within thirty days of receiving notice.

The legislation directly affects residential broadband and cable service providers in Louisiana and their customers by imposing administrative obligations and creating consumer protections. Providers must send notices separately from regular billing statements through channels customers have designated for communications or, absent such designation, by United States mail to service or billing addresses on file. Providers must retain compliance records for two years following each price increase. Customers gain the ability to exit or reduce service commitments in response to price increases without financial penalties, though providers may still recover unreturned equipment charges and other lawfully owed amounts that do not constitute early termination fees. The attorney general gains enforcement authority to investigate violations and pursue civil penalties, injunctive relief, restitution, and attorneys' fees under Louisiana's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

The statute operates within the broader framework of Louisiana's consumer protection regime found in Title 51 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, specifically R.S. 51:1401 et seq., and expressly designates violations as unfair or deceptive trade practices subject to that law's enforcement mechanisms and remedies. The legislation explicitly preserves and coordinates with federal telecommunications law, including 47 U.S.C. 521 et seq. and implementing federal regulations at 47 CFR 76.1603, providing that compliance with more stringent federal requirements automatically satisfies the statute's requirements. The law similarly defers to local franchise authorities by allowing them to maintain or adopt more protective customer-service standards and notice provisions, with providers complying with the more stringent requirement deemed compliant with state law. The statute clarifies that it functions as a disclosure and notice requirement rather than rate regulation and does not mandate specific prices, terms, or service offerings. The effective date is January 1, 2027, and the law applies only to price increases first noticed to customers on or after that date, without requiring notification for increases that took effect before enactment.