Broadband officials and experts emphasized the need for greater communication and partnerships between industry and government to complete the transition from copper infrastructure to fiber and other technologies during NARUC's Winter Policy Summit on Tuesday. Some stressed the need for greater oversight of the transition and carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. Others discussed the potential effects of the challenge to the FCC's Title II broadband reclassification and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision for a second time to deny rehearing a challenge to New York's broadband affordability law.

Senate Commerce Committee leaders said Thursday night they have designated Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., as Communications Subcommittee chair and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., as ranking member, as expected (see 2412180052). Lujan chaired the subpanel during the two previous Congresses. Lobbyists said Fischer's elevation to the Senate Communications gavel will further amplify the importance of her vehement opposition to reallocating DOD-controlled spectrum, particularly the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2501070069). Also a senior Armed Services Committee member, Fischer emphasized that position during a Wednesday Senate Commerce hearing, which again put her at odds with panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2502190068).

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous but narrow opinion Friday that reimbursement requests submitted to the E-rate program, administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co., can be considered “claims” under the False Claims Act (FCA). The decision in Wisconsin Bell v. U.S. reaffirmed the ruling of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Elena Kagan, one of three justices appointed by a Democratic president, wrote the opinion.

The Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday night on a 51-45 party-line vote. Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hailed the vote, as did several communications sector groups, including CTIA, NTCA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., opposed Lutnick on the floor, citing concerns that he “would not commit” during his confirmation hearing “to standing by” Commerce Department commitments for disbursing Chips and Science Act funding (see 2501290047). Other Senate Commerce Democrats objected to Lutnick because he refused to say he would defy a potential directive from President Donald Trump to halt or alter distribution of $42.5 billion in BEAD funding and wouldn't commit that NTIA would maintain its approval of jurisdictions’ plans for that money. House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said Lutnick “is the right person to run the Commerce Department” as it “plays a central role in promoting American leadership in AI and other cutting-edge technologies, along with closing the digital divide and utilizing the full range of communications technologies.”

The National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Legal Center joined Consumers’ Research in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject how the FCC handles USF. FCC v. Consumers' Research, which SCOTUS will hear March 26, challenges the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating how the USF program is funded (see 2501090045).

CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom on Wednesday asked the FCC to reconsider a January declaratory ruling by the FCC in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks, which now-FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had opposed (see 2501160041). The ruling concluded that Section 105 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) “affirmatively requires telecommunications carriers to secure their networks from unlawful access or interception of communications.” An accompanying NPRM seeks comment “on ways to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of our nation’s communications systems and services.” Members of the associations “were early adopters of cybersecurity risk management practices, collaborate on these issues with government agencies, and participate in public-private partnerships,” said a petition for reconsideration in docket 22-329. The ruling, “adopted in the waning days of the prior administration without any opportunity for public comment, supplants this longstanding collaborative approach,” the groups said. It also established “an ‘uncoordinated … and counterproductive’ policy based on an expansive reading” of CALEA “that imposes onerous network-wide duties on covered entities.” The ruling is inconsistent “with CALEA’s text, structure, and purpose,” they said: “Congress did not intend for CALEA to evolve into a general cybersecurity statute over three decades after its enactment.”

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2024 decision that Cox Communications was liable for contributory copyright infringement "poses an existential threat" to federal efforts to close the digital divide, USTelecom told DOJ's Solicitor General's Office last week. In a letter Friday, USTelecom urged the solicitor general to file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to grant Cox Communications' cert petition that seeks to reverse the appellate court decision. In addition, USTelecom said the 4th Circuit decision serves as "a direct threat to the internet service providers investing in and building broadband networks" to close the digital divide. Broadband providers "focus on connecting customers to the internet; they do nothing to encourage, nor do they benefit from, rogue users’ infringement of content owners’ copyrights." Music labels suing Cox "wish to turn broadband providers into their own internet content police." Moreover, it said, copyright holders' threats of massive lawsuits for not terminating internet access "are chilling." Absent a reversal of the 4th Circuit decision, "broadband providers have no choice but strict adherence to content owners’ increasingly draconian demands, taking thousands of households and businesses offline or otherwise face crushing liability."

Senate Commerce Committee Democrats are already signaling that they're unlikely to give new NTIA administrator pick Arielle Roth a free pass through her confirmation process, particularly given their amplified doubts about how the agency-administered, $42.5 billion BEAD program will fare under Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary nominee (see 2501290047). Several Senate Commerce Democrats are likely to vote against Lutnick at a Wednesday panel meeting, but lobbyists told us he is all but certain to advance to the floor with unified GOP support.

If the U.S. Supreme Court uses the FCC USF case as a route for establishing a judicial test about the nondelegation of power, that test should consider the nature of the power being delegated, legal academics say. A Federalist Society panel discussion about the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program and subsequent SCOTUS appeal (see 2411220050) saw speakers discussing how courts have looked at Congress' delegation of its powers to other branches or agencies and the high court's available options.

AT&T CEO John Stankey said Monday the carrier will move aggressively to shutter more of its legacy copper network in coming months, filing applications at the FCC to stop selling legacy products in about 1,300 wire centers. That is about a quarter of AT&T’s footprint, officials said on a call discussing Q4 results. AT&T also announced that its growth is continuing, with 482,000 postpaid phone subscription net adds in the quarter and 307,000 AT&T Fiber adds.