Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Consumers’ Research said the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should look more closely at an issue raised in the dissent and a footnote in the majority opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision in June upholding the legality of the USF. The FCC and DOJ last week asked the 5th Circuit not to require further briefing but close the case (see 2507170063).
Industry commenters broadly supported a CTIA petition asking the FCC to extend a temporary waiver that allows use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) compliance (see 2507020051). Groups representing consumers said any additional waiver must be limited and come with “safeguards and guardrails.” The current waiver expires Sept. 29.
The FCC and DOJ on Thursday asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals not to require a briefing on a potential remaining issue after the U.S. Supreme Court last month rejected a Consumers’ Research challenge to the way the FCC manages the USF (see 2507020049). The problem for the FCC has been a footnote in the majority opinion, which noted that several provisions in Section 254 of the Communications Act weren't challenged and which expressed no opinion about whether those posed any additional problems for the program (see 2507150081).
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The FCC avoided a potentially disastrous result when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the USF contribution factor in its Consumers’ Research decision last month (see 2507020049), HWG’s Chris Wright said during a practitioners panel that was part of an FCBA CLE Tuesday (see 2507150081). “If the case had gone the other way” it would have “called into question almost everything in the Communications Act,” said Wright, a former FCC general counsel.
The FCC's move to consider an NPRM on copper retirements at the July 24 open meeting (see 2507030049) is part of a global trend, experts said Tuesday during a World Broadband Association webinar. Operators worldwide have the same concerns as those in the U.S. about the cost of maintaining legacy networks as fiber is deployed, panelists said.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month upholding the USF in the Consumers’ Research case was a win for the FCC (see 2507020049), but the fight isn’t over, Jacob Lewis, FCC associate general counsel, said during an FCBA CLE on Tuesday. Lewis warned that Consumers’ Research has already renewed its challenge in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making a different argument for overturning parts of the fund.
Despite an array of federal broadband programs and billions of dollars spent on connectivity and access, a pressing need remains for high-quality national datasets on broadband pricing, network quality and consumers’ digital skills, Pew said Tuesday. A review of broadband literature between 2008 and 2024 showed that researchers identified holes in available data, including a lack of household-level information on broadband access and adoption, Pew said. The absence of data standardization has also led to inaccuracies in measuring coverage gaps, it added.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New cases are marked with a *.