DC Circuit Rejects Sandwich Isles' Mandamus Relief Bid for USF Subsidies Withheld by FCC
A federal court panel denied Sandwich Isles Communications' request for urgent relief to order the FCC to disburse withheld USF subsidies. "Petitioner has not shown a 'clear and indisputable right' to mandamus relief" under the Supreme Court's 1988 Gulfstream Aerospace…
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precedent, said the order (in Pacer) Friday of Judges Judith Rogers, Thomas Griffith and Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (In re: Sandwich Isles Communications, No. 17-1248). FCC opposition argued it had "ample" legal discretion "to deny subsidies to companies like SIC that engage in fraud, waste, or abuse" in USF (see 1801250018). The FCC also disputed Sandwich Isles' bid to recover more than an estimated $1.9 million in annual costs from a National Exchange Carrier Association pooling mechanism (see 1801190059).