FCC Asks Court to Hold Lifeline Case in Abeyance, Pending Agency Recon Action
The FCC asked a court to suspend its review of the agency's Lifeline USF overhaul, pending agency resolution of petitions to reconsider its order. When such petitions are filed for an order being challenged in court, "it is a common…
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practice for the reviewing court, on request by the agency or other parties, to hold its review proceeding in abeyance pending agency action on the petitions for reconsideration," said an FCC motion (in Pacer) Thursday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to hold in abeyance NARUC v. FCC, Nos. 16-1170 and 16-1219. The commission said the usual court considerations "are especially weighty in this case" because some recon petitions implicate two questions that judicial petitioners plan to raise before the D.C. Circuit: whether the agency should phase down stand-alone voice support and on state authority to designate USF "eligible telecom carriers" (ETCs). State judicial petitioners Thursday made a filing (in Pacer) saying they would oppose the abeyance motion and proposing a briefing schedule and format agreed to by all the parties, "subject, of course, to this Court's ruling" on the motion. The FCC March 31 adopted an order extending Lifeline low-income support to broadband service and streamlining program administration (see 1603310056). NARUC and individual states challenged the decision to create a federal Lifeline broadband provider designation process that bypasses state ETC reviews (see 1606030053 and 1607010057). CTIA, General Communication Inc., Joint Lifeline ETC Petitioners, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, NTCA/WTA, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, TracFone and USTelecom petitioned the FCC to reconsider or clarify aspects of its order (see 1608090023).