[News] Federal appeals court finds FCC’s management of broadband subsidies unconstitutional

The following article was published by TechBrew:

The way the Federal Communications Commission has been managing its broadband subsidy programs is unconstitutional, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday in a decision that upends decades of telecom policy.

The 71-page decision finds fault with the FCC’s delegation of rate-setting authority to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which the majority of judges characterized as a “private company” managed by “interest groups.” The FCC describes it as “an independent, not-for-profit corporation designated as the administrator of the federal Universal Service Fund.”

In a statement, former FCC official Gigi Sohn warned that the repudiation of the FCC’s system could have “catastrophic consequences for low-income Americans” who rely on government-subsidized internet service—especially after the lapse of a standalone subsidized internet program that Congress created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The full article is available here.