Lifeline Issues on Remand From Net Neutrality Decision Could Take Years, FCBA Hears
The FCC isn't expected to provide clarity over authority to include or require broadband services as part of its Lifeline program anytime soon, said speakers at an FCBA workshop Thursday on what last month's Mozilla v. FCC net neutrality ruling means.
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General Counsel Thomas Johnson, who represented the agency during oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in February, noted the court hasn't issued its mandate instructing the FCC on answering the Lifeline issue. That's one of three items remanded, along with public safety and pole attachment questions (see 1902010046). The remand mandate's expected to be stayed at least until the court addresses petitions for rehearing, Johnson told us. The Digital Justice Foundation has filed a petition in the matter, and the court will take further petitions through Dec. 13 (see 1911130025).
The Lifeline statute's outdated, and ideally, Congress would address how broadband is included in universal service programs, said Chuck Keller of Wilkinson Barker. "Everyone agrees Lifeline is a good program," he said. "So now what?" He questioned whether the current commission would want to address the Lifeline question in the run-up to a presidential election. "There's opportunity for creative legal thinking, but it gets back to a question of intention" on what the FCC wants to do with Lifeline.
Keller acknowledged that sometimes, remanded issues take "many years" for the FCC to clarify. He spoke in Q&A with us.