US Supreme Court set to rule on FCC fund for phone, broadband access

WASHINGTON: The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Friday on the legality of how the Federal Communications Commission funds a multi-billion dollar effort to expand phone and broadband internet access to low-income and rural Americans and other beneficiaries.

The FCC and a coalition of telecommunications firms and interest groups have appealed a lower court’s ruling that found that the agency’s funding operation effectively levied a “misbegotten tax” on American consumers in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s vesting of legislative authority in Congress. It is the latest in a series of cases to come to the Supreme Court challenging the power of federal agencies.