States' Ability to Change Separations Factors Dominates Oral Argument Over Freeze Extension

摘要

A federal appellate judge focused during a Jan. 17 oral argument over the FCC's 2018 separations freeze extension order on the questions of whether states were free to adjust separations factors for intrastate purposes and whether the FCC has been sufficiently clear that they may do so. During oral argument in The lrregulators et al. v. FCC and United States of America (case 19-1085) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, W. Scott McCullough, the attorney for parties challenging the order, told Senior Circuit Judge Stephen H. Williams that the petitioners would be happy to take a loss on the merits if they could walk away with a clear statement from the FCC that states were not precluded from adjusting separations factors for purposes such as intrastate universal service support.