Huawei’s Battle Against FCC’s Subsidy Ban Faces Long Odds

Huawei's Fifth Circuit challenge to a Federal Communications Commission ban against carriers using federal subsidies to buy its equipment is unlikely to succeed, attorneys and academics watching the case say. The Communications Act gives the FCC near “plenary authority” over how it disperses more than $4 billion in subsidies aimed at furthering universal access to internet and telephone services, Philip Verveer, who served as senior counselor to former Democratic FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said. The subsidies generally go to rural carriers to expand services in remote areas. “I think at the end of this it’s very likely that the FCC prevails,” Verveer said.