AT&T Petitions Supreme Court to Review DC Circuit Title II Net Neutrality Decisions

AT&T asked the Supreme Court to review an appellate court's affirmation of the FCC's 2015 net neutrality order under Communications Act Title II. It challenged the commission's authority to reclassify fixed and mobile broadband internet access service as Title II telecom services, and to reclassify mobile broadband internet access service as a "commercial mobile service," both subject to common carrier regulation. "In 2015, acquiescing to unprecedented White House pressure, the FCC repudiated its prior interpretation and subjected Internet access service to extensive common carrier regulation," said an AT&T cert petition in AT&T v. FCC, appealing the rulings of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (USTelecom v. FCC).

AT&T noted the commission is expected to revisit the issues soon. "If the FCC follows through on its proposal to eliminate common carriage regulation of Internet access, the questions presented in this petition may become moot," it wrote. "If that occurs, we will submit a further brief explaining why the Court should grant certiorari and vacate the court of appeals’ decision under well-accepted mootness principles. But if the FCC does not act within a reasonable timeframe, or if it otherwise maintains its current scheme of common carrier regulation, this Court should grant plenary review of the questions presented in this petition."

Other parties could also file petitions, we're told.