Overturned Chevron, NG911 rules, net neutrality

Chevron’s contempt debunked

Last week, the Supreme Court overturned its 1984 decision in the Chevron USA, Inc. case. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., which directed courts to task agencies with interpreting statutes that were silent or ambiguous on certain issues, and the interpretation was based on the permissible construction of the statute. The Tribunal reasoned that the so-called “chevron respect” violates the principle of separation of powers and is contrary to the Administrative Procedure Act. The Court noted, however, that agency actions that were permissible in cases based on Chevron’s deference would not be overturned by this decision.

Consent Decree in the amount of $1,050,000

The FCC has entered into a consent decree with Verizon Wireless (“Verizon”) to conclude an investigation into whether Verizon violated FCC rules by failing to deliver 911 calls during the December 2022 outage. FCC rules require wireless service providers to forward all 911 calls to 911 call centers. On December 21, 2022, Verizon Wireless experienced an outage that affected its Voice over Long-Term Evolution (“VoLTE”) 911 wireless voice traffic in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, resulting in hundreds of failed 911 calls over Verizon’s network. Verizon is required to pay a civil penalty of $1,050,000 and implement a compliance plan.

Proposed NG911 Rules

The FCC has released the proposed text of the Report and Order on Facilitating the Implementation of Next Generation 911 Services (“NG911”). The FCC proposes to require initial service providers (“OSPs”), including wireline, commercial mobile radio, blind text, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol calls, and Internet-based telecommunications relay service providers, to transition to NG911 in two phases in response to demand state or local 911 Authority. In Phase 1, TSOs will be required to deliver 911 traffic in an IP-based Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) format to delivery points designated by the 911 Authority. In Phase 2, TSOs will be required to deliver 911 traffic to designated delivery points in an IP-based SIP format that supports routing, caller location and emergency information transmission in accordance with widely accepted NG911 standards.

Net Neutrality Litigation Remains in Cincinnati

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled last week to let the net neutrality case currently pending in Cincinnati stand. The FCC had asked to transfer the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit because it has more experience in net neutrality disputes. The Sixth Circuit said the FCC’s reliance on D.C. Circuit precedent was unpersuasive because the commission had inconsistently classified broadband services over the years.

Broadband Data Submission Window

The fifth application window for Broadband Data Collection (“BDC”) to provide information on broadband availability and other data as of 30 June 2024 will open on 1 July 2024. Providers of infrastructure-based broadband services may submit data to BDC system, specifying where they are located, made the mass broadband Internet access service available from June 30, 2024. These entities, as well as providers of fixed and mobile voice services, are also required to submit to the BDC system by June 30, 2024, the subscription data required on Form 477. All availability and subscription data must be submitted no later than September 3, 2024.

Thomas B. Magee, Tracy P. Marshall, Sean A. Stokes, and Wesley K. Wright contributed to this article.