SCOTUS Sets Conference on N.Y. Affordable Broadband Case
The U.S. Supreme Court distributed for the justices’ Nov. 15 conference a petition for writ of certiorari by ISP groups challenging the New York Affordable Broadband Act, said a text-only docket entry Wednesday (docket 24-161). In a reply brief the…
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same day, the New York State Telecommunications Association and other telecom industry petitioners argued the court should take the case. Litigation has kept New York state from enforcing the 2021 law requiring $15 monthly plans with 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds for qualifying low-income households. Uncertainty over whether broadband is a Title I or Title II service under the Communications Act has complicated the case, with some arguing for delaying the New York case until the courts resolve that issue (see 2410160036). NYSTA and the other ISP groups argued that SCOTUS should take the case because it “presents questions of national importance … and requires review to remedy serious legal error.” If the high court has any doubts, it should ask the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in, they added.