On June 7, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") that would require providers of retail broadband internet access service to create detailed plans to address and...more
Two recent decisions issued this summer by different United States Courts of Appeals interpreting Sections 253 and 332 of the Communications Act demonstrate the continuing uncertainty carriers face when challenging state and...more
On August 13, 2021, a divided D.C. Circuit panel granted petitions for review of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2019 order that terminated a Notice of Inquiry concerning the FCC's guidelines for radiofrequency...more
On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit affirmed most aspects of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 2019 ruling that nearly all non-cash (or "in-kind") assessments required by cable...more
On November 16, 2017, a divided FCC voted 3-2 to adopt a controversial order and new rulemaking proceeding, adopting and proposing many changes that will radically reshape—and significantly shrink—the Lifeline program.
The...more
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has granted temporary waivers of the Lifeline non-usage and recertification rules to help the more than 1.1 million Lifeline customers in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands...more
On December 1, 2016, the day before new eligibility and port freeze rules imposed by the 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order on Lifeline-supported broadband services were to take effect, the FCC granted in part the petitions of...more
On July 15, the FCC issued an Order approving a consent decree between Blue Jay Wireless and the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, ending the Bureau’s investigation into whether Blue Jay’s Tribal Lifeline enrollments in Hawaii from...more
On Thursday, July 14, the FCC adopted its “Spectrum Frontiers” Order which allocates a substantial amount of high-frequency millimeter wave spectrum for both licensed and unlicensed use to support the deployment of the “next...more
The Lifeline Modernization Order was published in the Federal Register on May 24, making the effective date of the Order June 23, 2016. Most of the rule changes, however, cannot take effect until the Office of Management and...more
On March 8, 2016, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn unveiled a fact sheet summarizing their plan to “re-orient” the Lifeline program towards broadband service and a recap of the existing reforms...more
Members of Congress are asking FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to further modernize the Lifeline program to include broadband Internet services. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and 85 other members of the House sent a letter to Chairman...more
According to the Federal Communications Commission, 90 percent of Americans have access to broadband Internet access service at the FCC’s benchmark speeds of 25 Mbps for downloads/3 Mbps for uploads. But the FCC also found...more
The FCC has apparently declined to take further action on an informal complaint filed earlier this year by a self-identified Edge Provider, although it is unclear that the FCC’s action related to the merits of the complaint....more
What appears to be the first complaint by an edge provider regarding interconnection has been submitted to the FCC. In the complaint, dated June 22, 2015, Commercial Network Services (CNS) identifies itself as an edge...more
On July 1, 2015, TracFone Wireless, Inc. reached a settlement with the FCC concerning an investigation into TracFone’s handset locking and unlocking practices. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau had been investigating whether...more