Court Pauses Challenge to FCC’s USF Forbearance Policy

WASHINGTON, August 12, 2024 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit  agreed Friday to pause consumer groups’ effort to require Internet Service Providers to contribute to a multibillion broadband subsidy program run by the  Federal Communications Commission.

The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society and the Media Alliance challenged the FCC’s decision to abstain from tapping broadband revenue for its $8.1 billion Universal Service Fund, something that would normally have happened when the agency reclassified broadband providers as Title II common carriers.