D.C. Memo: Carr Says Wi-Fi Hotspots Vulnerable Under Loper Bright

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Wi-Fi Hotspots: Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said the FCC's decision on Wi-Fi hotspots yesterday was a clear example of an agency action vulnerable to reversal under the Supreme Court's Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision last month. "Loper Bright makes it abundantly clear that this is exactly the type of overreach that the court was trying to avoid," Carr told reporters after the FCC monthly public meeting. "If we want to do this as a policy matter, let's go get authority from Congress." The FCC plan, adopted 3-2 along partisan lines, called for using E-rate program money to allow students and library patrons to obtain Wi-Fi hotspots for off-premises Internet access. The effort was controversial with Carr and others because of conflicts with the E-rate statute. "In this instance, we believe the FCC lacks the specific authority to provide access beyond the premises of schools and libraries, made more apparent since the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling," said WISPA, a trade group for fixed wireless providers. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the law backs her Wi-Fi hotspots initiative, saying it calls on the agency "to update the definition of universal service, which includes E-Rate, so that it evolves over time." She said the fact that the E-rate law referred to classrooms and libraries did not prevent funding Internet access devises used elsewhere. "To the extent that classrooms get a mention in the law, the statute makes clear it is descriptive and not restrictive," she said. The FCC's decision last October to fund Wi-Fi in school buses has been challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., issued a statement saying the FCC’s decision “violates federal law and will result in taxpayer dollars subsidizing children’s unsupervised internet access” and accused the agency of “doubling down to advance Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s pet projects.”