FCC Tests Its Authority Over States

The Federal Communication Commission is testing how deeply its authority extends into the Internet. It is also testing how broadly it extends over the states.

The FCC used a new argument to override state laws limiting cities’ ability to run their own Internet service. “By asserting jurisdiction where it clearly has none, the FCC is setting itself up for wasteful and unnecessary litigation,” said Chris Nelson, chairman of the telecommunications panel at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The FCC has had some success supplanting state and local rules considered out of step with federal law. In 2004, the commission preempted Minnesota rules that burdened the Internet telephone service Vonage, and in 2006 it adopted rules forcing local governments to grant new cable franchises. A 2009 FCC ruling preempted state and local laws that delayed cellphone companies from setting up new towers. But the commission’s authority to promote municipal broadband is less clear.