For nearly eighty years, the Federal Communications Commission has regulated interstate communications. In 2009, the FCC was charged by Congress with developing a "National Broadband Plan," the purpose of which is "to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and to establish benchmarks for meeting that goal." In Re FCC 11-161, (10th Cir. 2014).
On November 18, 2011, the FCC released a 752-page Order that purported to "comprehensively reform and modernize the universal service and intercarrier compensation systems to ensure that robust, affordable voice and broadband service, both fixed and mobile, were available to Americans throughout the nation." In Re FCC, ibid.
According to the FCC, "the universal service challenge of our time is to ensure that all Americans are served by networks that support high-speed Internet access—in addition to basic voice service—where they live, work, and travel." The "existing universal service and intercarrier compensation systems were based on decades-old assumptions that failed to reflect today's networks, the evolving nature of communications services, or the current competitive landscape." In Re FCC, ibid.
The FCC explains the basis for its Order, in part, as follows:
Congress recognized the importance of ubiquitous broadband deployment to Americans' civic, cultural, and economic lives and, thus, instructed the Commission to "encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans." Of particular importance, Congress adopted a definition of "advanced telecommunications capability" that is not confined to a particular technology or regulatory classification. Rather, "'advanced telecommunications capability' is defined, without regard to any transmission media or technology, as high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video communications using any technology.
Section 706 [of the Telecommunications Act of 1996] further requires the Commission to "determine whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion" and, if the Commission concludes that it is not, to "take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by removing barriers to infrastructure investment and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market." The Commission has found that broadband deployment to all Americans has not been reasonable and timely and observed in its most recent broadband deployment report that "too many Americans remain unable to fully participate in our economy and society because they lack broadband."
THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of 36 U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss issues affecting broadband service providers. The selection of decisions spans from 2004 to the date of publication.