The Supreme Court ruled that the funding mechanism behind a key broadband subsidy for schools and underserved areas can continue operating, The Verge reported. In a decision issued Friday, the Supreme Court rejected claims that Congress and the FCC’s implementation of the fund is unconstitutional.
The program, known as the Universal Service Fund (USF), helps subsidize telecommunications services for low-income consumers, rural health care providers, and schools and libraries. It’s administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), a nonprofit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) named to run the program.
But conservative advocacy group Consumers’ Research, which encourages consumers to “report woke” on its website, sued to upend that structure, charging that the way Congress and the FCC had delegated power over the program’s funding was unconstitutional.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Consumers’ Research, and the Supreme Court took up the case when the FCC petitioned the court to review it.
NBC News reported: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to a Federal Communications Commission program that subsidizes phone and internet services in underserved parts of the country.
In a decision written by Justice Elena Kagan, the court ruled that Congress did not exceed its authority when it enacts a 1996 law that set up the Universal Service Fund, which required telecommunications services to submit payments to subsidize “universal service.”
The court also said the FCC could delegate its authority to a private corporation called the Universal Service Administrative Company to administer the fund.
“Nothing in these arrangements, either separately or together, violates the Constitution.” Kagan wrote. The justices were divided 6-3, with three conservative justices dissenting.
The fees, generally passed on to customers, raise billions of dollars a year that are spent on providing phone and internet services, including for schools, libraries, and hospitals.
CBS News reported: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s multi-billion-dollar mechanism for expanding phone and internet access to rural and low-income communities.
The high court ruled that neither Congress nor the FCC violated the Constitution with its chosen scene for administering the Universal Service Fund, which is supported by contributions from communications carriers and funds programs designed to improve access to telecommunications services.
Justice Elena Kagan authored the majority opinion for the 6-3 court, with Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarance Thomas, and Samuel Alito in dissent.
“For nearly three decades, the work of Congress and the Commission in establishing universal-service programs has led to a more fully connected country. And it has done so while leaving fully intact the separations of powers intrigue to our Constitution,” Kagan wrote.