FCC Authority Over Broadband Remains Despite Comcast Decision, AT&T Says

The FCC has plenty of authority under the Communications Act to provide Universal Service Fund support for broadband deployment and move forward with other proceedings prompted by the National Broadband Plan, regardless of the decision last week in the Comcast v. FCC case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, AT&T said in a filing Tuesday at the commission. The carrier asked the FCC to proceed with caution and reject advice that the decision means the commission must reregulate broadband as a Title II service.

AT&T Senior Vice President Robert Quinn told reporters that the FCC is still working through the significance of the Comcast decision and the commissioners haven’t decided whether to reclassify broadband. He said he thinks that FCC officials “are sitting back and they're trying to figure out what’s the best path forward through this dilemma that’s been created as a result of the Comcast decision.” More will become known in the next few weeks, perhaps starting Wednesday with comments by Chairman Julius Genachowski to the Senate Commerce Committee, the executive said.

"I am writing to explain why nothing in the D.C. Circuit’s recent decision in Comcast v. FCC … in any way undermines that authority or suggests that the Commission must reclassify broadband Internet access services as telecommunications services in order to provide universal service funding for broadband,” said an ex parte letter by AT&T filed at the commission. “If anything, the Comcast decision confirms that the Commission properly could exercise its ancillary authority under Title I to the extent necessary to fulfill its statutory obligation under section 254 to promote deployment of broadband, without having to reclassify broadband Internet access service as a telecommunications service or adopt regulations that alter the way in which such services are offered today."

"We want to emphasize that ancillary jurisdiction is alive ands well,” Quinn said. “The notion that they can’t go forward with the broadband plan, in light of what the D.C. Circuit did, I think is really overblown.” Many of the reports on the Comcast decision suggest that the FCC had done something “revolutionary,” he said.

Quinn cited comments from a Free Press official that if Genachowski doesn’t push to reclassify broadband under Title II he will have no legacy. “That’s the kind of hyperbole that’s just not grounded in fact or logic and it’s overstating so much what happened with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals,” the executive said. Quinn also said the FCC should seek legislation to give the commission clear authority over broadband before considering reclassification. Discussions about whether to reclassify broadband “throw a cloud” over investors’ willingness to put money into the telecom industry, he warned. “Sure we're concerned about it,” Quinn said. “These questions get raised. We're going to be doing earnings next week, and I guarantee you a lot of the analysts will have questions about this proceeding and Title II at the FCC.”