The Supreme Court of the United States today held that the Communications Act provision governing the Universal Service Fund (USF) is a fully constitutional delegation of authority to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the FCC's creation of the Universal Service Administrative (USAC) to administer the USF is also constitutional. 

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society was among the co-petitioners that asked the Court to reverse a decision of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Jay Schwartzman has represented Benton, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and MediaJustice in the case.

The following statement may be attributed to Revati Prasad, Executive Director of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society:

"Today is a great day. We will need some time to sort through the details of today’s decision, but what matters most is that the Supreme Court has given the green light to the FCC to continue to support internet access to the tens of millions of Americans and the thousands of schools, libraries and rural hospitals that rely on the Universal Service Fund. Benton is proud to have been among the petitioners who joined to bring this case to the Supreme Court."

Contact:

Andrew Jay Schwartzman
Benton Senior Counselor
andyschwartzman@gmail.com

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-220-4531
headlines AT benton DOT org

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