Regulatory announcements seem to be hot and heavy these days, mostly related to a new administration.

USF Fee Increase. The FCC recently voted to increase the end-user fee used to fund the Universal Service Fund. The new fee for the second quarter of 2025 is now calculated at 36.6% of interstate telecommunications revenues. Everybody in the industry recognizes this fee as unsustainable, and there has been a lot of discussion, but no action taken to expand the base on which the fee is calculated. This may come to a head later this year since the Supreme Court is currently reviewing a case that challenges whether the Universal Service Fund structure is constitutional.

Net Neutrality Now a State Issue. Add Pennsylvania to the list of states that are considering a state version of a net neutrality law in a new bill introduced into the legislature. The current states that have adopted net neutrality rules are California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. One of the interesting features of the Pennsylvania legislation is that it would classify ISPs as utilities, opening them to more state regulation.

Changing Regulators. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has announced he’ll be leaving the FCC some time this spring. Commissioner Starks is a Democrat, and the new administration is required by law to replace him with another democrat. The Senate has not yet confirmed Olivia Trusty, a Republican who is slated to fill the current open spot.

Adam Cassady has been named as the acting administrator of NTIA. Adam was formerly the chief of staff for FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. The acting administrator slot is open until the Senate votes to confirm Arielle Roth.

Administration Support for the USF. The Trump administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court on March 13 that defends the Universal Service Fund and says that the claim the that the USF is unconstitutional is a strawman. There are legal scholars saying the Court might rule against the USF, even while the White House supports it, since this case has wider implications for other federal agencies.

Tower Dumps are Unconstitutional. A Mississippi federal judge has ruled that the law-enforcement technique known as a ‘tower’ dump’ is unconstitutional. Law enforcement agencies have often pulled large swaths of calling data in the area of crimes in the hope of identifying suspected criminals. In the case that triggered the order, the FBI had requested search warrants to pull cellular data from four carriers across nine cell towers in the hope of being able to sift through records to identify local gang members.

FCC Issues Shutdown Contingency Plan. Acknowledging this crazy year, the FCC issued a  Plan for Orderly Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriation. The document surprised me because the FCC is self-funded through regulatory fees, and I assumed that meant they would not be subject to a general government shutdown. And perhaps that is the case since the FCC shutdown would not happen “If prior year funds are made available.” I guess that raises the possibility that the FCC’s own funds could somehow be frozen in a larger shutdown.