1996 Telecom Act affords FCC clear, unambiguous authority for Title II rulemaking

Investor owned telephone and cable companies and their trade associations hope the courts will put the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s recently issued Open Internet rulemaking on ice, slated to become effective July 22. They believe their case has been strengthened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo that held the courts and not executive branch agencies must interpret the legislative intent of a statute when it’s unclear or ambiguous under the Administrative Procedures Act.

They hope to convince the courts the FCC lacked authority to issue the rulemaking classifying Internet protocol-based services -- advanced telecommunications – as a common carrier telecom utility service under Title II of the Communications Act. The rationale is the agency previously relied upon the now disapproved Chevron doctrine that accorded administrative agencies authority to issue rules based on their interpretation of the legislative intent of a statute that’s unclear or ambiguous. Or which fails to confer clear rulemaking authority to an agency.

That would conceivably bolster their case if the underlying statute here – the 1996 Telecom Act – was unclear or ambiguous or failed to grant the FCC authority for its rules. The problem is doesn't meet any of these tests. It clearly defines telecommunications as “the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received.”

Sending an email certainly would meet the definition. So would posting to a website or social media site. The transmitted content isn’t changed; it’s communicated over the Internet to one or more parties.

In so providing this telecommunications service, the Act states providers “shall be treated as a common carrier” (i.e. a utility under Title II of the Communications Act) and further authorizes the FCC to “determine whether the provision of fixed and mobile satellite service shall be treated as common carriage.” That’s a pretty clear and unambiguous grant of authority for the FCC’s rulemaking.

The Act also clearly brings providers of advanced telecommunications providers within the scope of the Open Internet rulemaking, defining telecommunications service as “the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.’’