Last summer, I embarked on a weekend tour of upstate New York with a law school classmate to visit his childhood home. We met at Syracuse airport and drove north, reaching Gouverneur, where his home is located, about 30 miles...more
Olivia Trusty, nominee for the open Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Commissioner position, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Trusty has...more
Last Friday, in Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Heath, the Supreme Court unanimously held that requests for funding from the FCC’s E-rate program are “claims” for purposes of the False Claims Act (FCA), settling...more
Broadband and telecommunications service providers should redouble efforts to comply with the rules of the FCC's "E-Rate" program that subsidizes service to schools and libraries as a result of a Supreme Court ruling that...more
On December 13, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced significant updates to its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform. This enhanced tool, now incorporating a range of new health metrics, aims to...more
A bipartisan coalition of 22 AGs and the Maine Office of the Public Advocate filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in consolidated cases FCC v. Consumers’ Research (No. 24-354) and Schools, Health & Libraries...more
The 2024 election is over and Republicans are poised in January to take over Washington, D.C.—in the White House, on the Hill, at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and at other agencies (the National...more
As the Trump administration prepares to return to power in 2025, the communications and technology sectors are bracing for significant regulatory shifts, with experts predicting major changes in areas ranging from spectrum...more
For decades, there has been broad, bipartisan support for the Universal Service Fund and the FCC programs that help communications reach low-income households and the most rural and least-connected communities in the United...more
The 2024 election cycle, one of the longest and most contentious in U.S. history, will culminate Election Day on November 5. However, many aspects of the election are expected to be close and uncertainty may reign for some...more
Just how broad is the scope of the False Claims Act (FCA)? That is the basic question posed in Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Heath, No. 23-1127. Put more directly, the case addresses whether reimbursement requests...more
In July, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) to violate the Constitution in several ways. This decision reversed an earlier decision by a panel of the court...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently ruled in a closely divided 9-7 en banc decision that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) method of funding the Universal Service Fund (USF) is an...more
RECENT NEWS - General - On March 2, 2024, in the School and Libraries docket, CC Docket No. 02-6, in the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program docket, WC Docket No. 21-93, in the Contribution Methodology docket, WC...more
The Fifth and D.C. Circuit federal appellate courts are now poised to issue pivotal decisions in the ongoing litigation challenging the constitutionality of the FCC’s universal service support mechanisms. Their opinions will...more
General - • On August 24, 2023, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) issued a Public Notice (DA 23-753) seeking nominations for six positions on the Board of Directors for the Universal Service Administrative Company...more
The legal battles over the constitutionality of Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions continue as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has granted a request for the full court to re-hear a challenge to the...more
Lifeline / Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) - On May 30, 2023, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), in an Order (DA 23-460) on its own motion, granted a limited, one-time waiver to a number of Lifeline subscribers...more
While no one is likely to bemoan the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s or Commission’s) May 30, 2023, Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O) to vacate the 2015 Forfeiture Policy Statement that had adopted a methodology...more
Lifeline / Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) - • On April 28, 2023, Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) announced the annual recertification for Lifeline subscribers. Starting May 1, 2023, and continuing...more
General - On March 24, 2023, in Consumers’ Research v. FCC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a Decision (No. 22-60008) upholding the constitutionality of Congress’s delegation of administration of...more
In Consumers' Research v. FCC, the Universal Service Fund (USF) is under legal and constitutional attack in the Fifth Circuit. A decision striking the USF would have wide-ranging impacts on the telecommunications industry and...more
Each month, Kelley Drye’s Communications Group offers this reminder of upcoming filing deadlines that may affect our clients. The following are reminders for upcoming Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports and...more
General - • On February 28, 2023, in the School and Libraries docket, CC Docket No. 02-6, and in the Contribution Methodology docket, WC Docket No. 06-122, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) issued a Public Notice (DA...more