Judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned the FCC on how the commission structures its Universal Service Fund and oversees the role the Universal Service Administrative Co. plays in determining quarterly contribution factors during an en banc hearing Tuesday. Some pressed Consumers' Research on how the private nondelegation doctrine applied to its challenge of the Q1 2022 USF contribution factor (see 2309010060).

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Sept. 21 hearing on rural broadband funding issues, as expected (see 2309120059), the Commerce Committee said Thursday night. Lobbyists believe the hearing will in part focus on both how to fit an extension of the affordable connectivity program into broader universal service legislation and how to change the USF contribution factor to include non-wireline entities. “High-speed broadband is essential to participate in today’s modern economy, yet some Americans still do not have reliable Internet access, especially in rural communities,” House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in a statement. “Congress has dedicated an unprecedented amount of taxpayer dollars towards closing this digital divide. As these resources are made available and new funding programs are considered, it is critical that we ensure taxpayer dollars aren't being wasted or duplicated.” The panel will begin at 9 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association continued to raise concerns about USTelecom and the Competitive Carriers Association's joint petition to extend the FCC's waiver of broadband data collection (BDC) rules allowing filers to submit information by a nonlicensed professional engineer (PE), per reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 19-195 (see 2309050065). Others disagreed and urged the commission to consider granting a permanent waiver due to continued workforce shortages.

USF revamp matters are expected to come up in both a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing on the state of the U.S. video marketplace (see 2309070060) and a likely Sept. 21 subpanel discussion on rural broadband funding, communications sector lobbyists told us. NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt and other officials set to testify at the Wednesday hearing focused their written statements largely on more video-centric issues, including staking a range of positions on a recent push for the FCC to refresh its long-dormant docket (14-261) on reclassifying streaming services as MVPDs to fix a perceived disparity in retransmission consent rules. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. in 2322 Rayburn.

The California Public Utilities Commission missed the deadline to appeal a U.S. District Court for Northern California opinion on a USF surcharges dispute with T-Mobile’s MetroPCS, the carrier said Monday. For that and other reasons, the CPUC should reject the CPUC Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division’s objections (see 2309010014) to MetroPCS’ motion to dismiss the investigation in docket I.22-04-005, the carrier said. “MetroPCS clearly cannot be penalized for declining to comply with Resolutions that have been declared unlawful and unenforceable.”

Citing a report that the FCC's USF contribution factor will likely increase to 36.2% during Q4 (see 2309050040), Free State Foundation President Randolph May blogged last week that those numbers show the system must be fixed. “The current Universal Service Fund subsidy regime is unsustainable, and it must be meaningfully reformed,” May said: “This is not to say that there should not be subsidies to support universal service goals, including support for low-income persons and for high-cost areas that otherwise would not be served. It is to say the legacy universal service regime is broken -- and clearly unsustainable.”

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to vote Sept. 21 on whether to resume proceedings on revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation (docket 22-221). Commissions will also consider whether to grant Minnesota Telecom Association and the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s motion to suspend LTD’s ETC designation in the meantime, said an agenda posted Friday. In comments last month, LTD told the commission there’s no urgent need to resume the proceeding (see 2308220051), while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) and industry and public interest groups said the matter mustn’t be delayed any further (see 2308140032). Also at the meeting, the PUC plans to consider annual ETC certifications for receiving federal USF support (docket 23-8).

The USF contribution factor will likely increase to 36.2% during Q4 2023, making it the "highest quarterly contribution factor in the history of the USF," emailed analyst Billy Jack Gregg Friday. Gregg noted total revenue will also be about $362 million less than the previous quarter.

The FCC told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Consumers' Research's challenge of its Q1 2022 USF contribution factor "lacks merit" and defended the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s role as "exclusively administrative" in establishing quarterly factors. "Congress’s delegation of authority to the FCC amply satisfies the constitutional standard set forth in controlling Supreme Court precedent," said the commission. The USAC "has no policymaking authority" and is "overseen by the FCC at every step," the said in an en banc brief posted Thursday in case 22-60008 (see 2308070033). The FCC also said CR's private delegation challenge should be rejected because USAC "does not exercise regulatory power" or have any policymaking role in administering USF programs.

Don’t dismiss an investigation into a USF surcharges dispute between T-Mobile’s MetroPCS and the California Public Utilities Commission, the CPUC Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED) urged the commission Thursday. T-Mobile sought dismissal due to completion of a related court case at the U.S. District Court for Northern California where MetroPCS won judgment against the CPUC (see 2308170063). The carrier’s motion is premature because issues in the first track of the CPUC investigation are independent of federal litigation, said CPED in docket I.22-04-005. Also, the CPUC still has time to appeal the court’s decision addressing second track issues, the division said.