Christopher Cole

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, a longtime opponent of net neutrality rules, blasted the idea of bringing back regulations now that Democrats have a majority at the agency again. He said that recent Supreme Court law makes clear that a net neutrality revival would not survive legal challenges, meaning that any effort to craft rules would sap time from a FCC that should be focused elsewhere.

A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit explored what would happen if the Federal Communications Commission's fee collection to support telecommunications subsidies were overturned, as they dissected the legality of giving the Federal Communications Commission and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) power to levy the fees.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has banded with industry and consumer advocates to press the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reject a challenge to fees on telecom services that pay for multiple Federal Communications Commission subsidy programs. In a flurry of filings, members from both sides of the aisle joined trade groups including USTelecom to argue that the FCC's reliance on the Universal Service Fund (USF)–a separately run body that oversees the collection of fees–is not only legal, but "essential" and aligned with congressional goals.

The Federal Communications Commission heard from the public on April 7 as the agency focuses on plans to create broadband consumer labels. This was the second FCC public hearing on so-called nutrition labels as the agency revives an effort from late in the Obama administration to stick the information on internet service provider (ISP) plans. One common thread was that even when information is available on internet service quality, consumers don't know enough about the specifics to grasp what it means for their own online needs.