Broadband (Litigator Series)

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of 36 U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss issues affecting broadband service providers. The selection of decisions spans from 2004 to the date of publication.

For nearly eighty years, the FCC has regulated interstate communications. In 2009, the FCC was charged by Congress with developing a "National Broadband Plan," the purpose of which is "to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and to establish benchmarks for meeting that goal." In Re FCC 11-161, (10th Cir. 2014).

On November 18, 2011, the FCC released a 752-page Order that purported to"comprehensively reform and modernize the universal service and intercarrier compensation systems to ensure that robust, affordable voice and broadband service, both fixed and mobile, were available to Americans throughout the nation." In Re FCC, ibid.

According to the FCC, "the universal service challenge of our time is to ensure that all Americans are served by networks that support high-speed Internet access—in addition to basic voice service—where they live, work, and travel." The "existing universal service and intercarrier compensation systems were based on decades-old assumptions that fail to reflect today's networks, the evolving nature of communications services, or the current competitive landscape." In Re FCC, ibid.