Cox Challenge to Rhode Island BEAD Map Dismissed, Federal Suit Possible

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2024 – Cox Communications’s lawsuit against Rhode Island’s broadband office was dismissed in state court on Thursday. A judge said the company would have to file a federal suit.

“This Court cannot reach the merits of Cox Communications’ claim, but Cox Communications is not left without a remedy,” Rhode Island Superior Court Associate Justice Brian Stern wrote in the decision. “Cox Communications is simply in the wrong court and may pursue a remedy in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.”

Todd Smith, Cox's assistant vice president of public relations, said that was on the table. He emphasized the company's actual claims still had yet to be litigated.

“We’re in receipt of Judge Stern’s decision and our legal team is reviewing it. That said, we are considering all options at this juncture including filing a claim in federal court,” he wrote in an email.

The company sued in September to block the state from using its broadband coverage map to determine eligibility for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Rhode Island was allocated $108 million to expand broadband infrastructure through the program.

Cox alleged the state’s challenge process rules made it impossible for the company to effectively challenge crowd-sourced speed test data, which Cox said improperly marked about 30,000 homes and businesses in its footprint as underserved. That would make those locations eligible for BEAD-funded infrastructure, something Cox is looking to avoid.

The state countered that the lawsuit was merely an attempt to block the investment because Cox “realizes that some, or even all, of that money may be awarded through a competitive process to other internet service providers.” 

The company said it raised concerns about the challenge process with the broadband office, but did not formally ask for a waiver from the rules it said were unworkable until three days before the challenge window closed. The state said that was too late, and Cox then sued to block the state from using its map to allocate BEAD funds.

Stern noted in his Nov. 7 decision that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act says the D.C. Circuit alone can review decisions made by the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration with respect to BEAD. Since the NTIA must ultimately sign off on state plans that detail challenge process rules, Stern said Cox would have to file a claim with that circuit if it wanted possible relief.

This story was updated to add a comment from Cox.