Supreme Court Ends Legal Challenge to Limits on Cable Franchising Authorities

On February 22, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari in City of Eugene v. FCC. The Supreme Court's denial of the petition leaves standing a decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld most of a 2019 order by the Commission that clarified limits on local franchising authorities (LFAs) with respect to cable infrastructure. This is welcome news because the Commission's 2019 order is an important reform that helps keep state and local governments from regulating broadband Internet access services.   

As explained in my blog post from June 2021, the Sixth Circuit upheld the Commission's "mixed use rule" – which clarifies that LFA's may not use their cable franchising authority to regulate non-cable services such as broadband Internet access services. Also, the Sixth Circuit upheld the Commission's determination that in-kind obligations imposed by LFAs on cable operators count toward Section 622(b)'s limit on how much LFAs can charge cable operators. Under Section 622(b), LFA's can charge cable operators no more than an amount equal to 5% of their gross revenues during any 12-month period.

 

Additionally, Free State Foundation Legal Fellow Andrew Magloughlin wrote a blog post on January 12 of this year about the certiorari petition in City of Eugene v. FCC and offered solid reasons why the Supreme Court should deny it.