[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 151 (Friday, August 8, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38406-38408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15107]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 8, 20, and 51
[GN Docket No. 25-133; WC Docket Nos. 23-320, 17-108; CC Docket Nos.
96-48, 95-185; DA 25-613; FR ID 306349]
Delete, Delete, Delete; Safeguarding and Securing the Open
Internet; Restoring Internet Freedom; Implementation of the Local
Competition Provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996;
Interconnection Between Local Exchange Carriers and Commercial Mobile
Radio Service Providers
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) of
the Federal Communication Commission (Commission) conforms certain rule
parts in the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect the rules that are
actually in effect as a result of the Ohio Telecom and Iowa Utilities
Board II decisions.
DATES: Effective August 8, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street NE,
Washington, DC 20554.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the
Order, contact Aur[eacute]lie Mathieu, Attorney Advisor, Competition
Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order
in GN Docket No. 25-133; WC Docket No. 23-320; WC Docket No. 17-108; CC
Docket No. 96-48; CC Docket No. 95-185; DA 25-613, adopted and released
on July 11, 2025. The complete text of this document is available for
download at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-613A1.pdf.
Paperwork Reduction Act. This document does not contain information
collections subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44
U.S.C. 3501-3521. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any new
or modified information collection burden for small business concerns
with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork
Relief Act of 2002, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).
Congressional Review Act. The Bureau has determined, and the
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that this rule is non-major
under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The Commission
will send a copy of this Order to Congress and the Government
Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
Synopsis
By this Order, we conform Parts 8, 20, and 51 of the Commission's
rules to court decisions nullifying certain provisions within those
Parts. In the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding, the Commission made
clear its goal to ``review its rules to identify and eliminate those
that are unnecessary in light of current circumstances.'' The Wireline
Competition Bureau takes this action in furtherance of that goal,
finding that these rules ``no longer have any operative effect,'' and
therefore should not remain in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Specifically, this action will remove from our regulations
approximately 5 pages, 2,991 words, and 41 rules or requirements.
We first conform Parts 8 and 20 of the Commission's rules to the
decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Sixth Circuit) in Ohio
Telecom Ass'n v. FCC (Ohio Telecom), which set aside the Second Title
II Order, by restoring the text of those rules to how they would have
read absent the changes adopted in the Second Title II Order (89 FR
45404 (May 22, 2024)). The Commission adopted the Second Title II Order
on April 25, 2024, reclassifying broadband internet access service
[[Page 38407]]
(BIAS) as a telecommunications service under Title II of the
Communications Act of 1934 (the Act) and instituting conduct rules on
BIAS providers. The Commission published a summary of the Second Title
II Order in the Federal Register on July 22, 2024. In accordance with
normal procedure, the Code of Federal Regulations was revised to
reflect the rules adopted in the Second Title II Order. On August 1,
2024, the Sixth Circuit issued an order staying the effective date of
the Second Title II Order pending judicial review. On January 2, 2025,
the Sixth Circuit issued its decision in Ohio Telecom setting aside the
Second Title II Order, holding that, under the Act, broadband providers
offer only an information service under the Act and that the Commission
is not permitted to classify mobile broadband as a commercial mobile
service. The Sixth Circuit issued its mandate on March 20, 2025, after
denying a petition for rehearing en banc by the Intervenors. The
Intervenors have sought and received an extension until August 8, 2025,
to file any petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court. As
a result of the Sixth Circuit's stay order and final decision, the
rules adopted in the Second Title II Order never went into effect, and
the text that currently appears in the Code of Federal Regulations does
not accurately reflect the rules actually in effect. Accordingly, we
restore Part 8 and Part 20 of the Commission's rules to reflect how
they would read absent the changes adopted in the Second Title II
Order, accounting for amendments to Part 8 adopted in other Commission
actions. When the Commission adopted the IoT Labeling Order (89 FR
61242), it split Part 8 of the Commission's rules into Subpart A, which
contained the existing transparency requirements, and Subpart B, which
contained the new cybersecurity labeling requirements. Because the
Sixth Circuit's decision setting aside the Second Title II Order does
not affect the rules contained in Subpart B, Appendix A only reflects
changes to the relevant portions of Subpart A. We also rename the
headings for Part 8 and Subpart A to conform to the restored rule
language and find that good cause exists to forgo notice and comment to
rename these headings given that the heading changes simply reflect the
correct rule content and do not result in substantive changes. With
respect to Part 20, although the Second Title II Order did not amend
the authority for that part, we make a non-substantive correction to
the authority, changing section 302 to section 302a and find that good
cause exists to forgo notice and comment to make this change since it
is a non-substantive change that simply corrects the authority
citation.
We next remove requirements from Part 51 of our rules that were
vacated by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (Eighth Circuit) in Iowa
Utilities Board II roughly 25 years ago but never removed from the Code
of Federal Regulations. Iowa Utilities Board II was an intermediate
step in the litigation concerning the Commission's rules adopted in the
1996 Local Competition Order (67 FR 45476 (Aug. 29, 1996)). Although
the Commission and other parties were successful in appealing portions
of Iowa Utilities Board II to the Supreme Court, no party, including
the Commission, appealed the Eighth Circuit's rulings vacating Sec.
51.303 or Sec. 51.405(a), (c), (d) of the Commission's rules or the
Eighth Circuit's reasoning for vacating Sec. Sec. 51.513 and 51.611
unique to such sections. The Eighth Circuit based its holding vacating
Sec. Sec. 51.513 and 51.611 on two independent grounds, the first of
which, judicial estoppel, was unique to such sections (as opposed to
other sections that the Eighth Circuit considered) and never appealed.
Section 51.405(b), the sole subsection of Sec. 51.405 not vacated by
Iowa Utilities Board II, merely repeats the substance of the first
sentence of Sec. 251(f)(2) of the Act and is not cross-referenced
elsewhere in the Commission's rules, and therefore serves no purpose.
Accordingly, we delete Sec. Sec. 51.303, 51.405, 51.513, and 51.611,
finding that doing so has no effect on the scope and nature of the
currently enforceable Commission requirements and simply effectuates
the Eighth Circuit's action in Iowa Utilities Board II.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), because we are simply conforming
the text of the Commission's rules in the Code of Federal Regulations
to reflect the rules that are actually in effect as a result of the
Ohio Telecom and Iowa Utilities Board II decisions, not taking any
independent action or exercising any discretion, we find that notice
and public procedure are unnecessary for this action. For the same
reason, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d), this action will be effective
immediately upon publication in the Federal Register. We find ``good
cause'' under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to make the rules effective immediately
upon publication in the Federal Register. In determining whether good
cause exists, an agency should ``balance the necessity for immediate
implementation against principles of fundamental fairness which require
that all affected persons be afforded a reasonable amount of time to
prepare for the effective date of its ruling.'' Because the rule
changes adopted in the Second Title II Order have never been in effect
and because the rules vacated in Iowa Utilities Board II have been
nullified for 25 years, we find that there will be no burden on the
public from making these changes effective upon Federal Register
publication, while doing so will have the benefit of ensuring that
inoperative rules do not linger in the Code of Federal Regulations
unnecessarily.
The changes to parts 8, 20, and 51 of the Commission's rules to
conform to these court decisions are reflected in Appendix A.
It is ordered that parts 8, 20, and 51 of the Commission's rules,
47 CFR parts 8, 20, and 51, are amended as set forth in Appendix A,
effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
The Bureau has determined, and the Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget,
concurs that this rule is non-major under the Congressional Review Act,
5 U.S.C. 804(2). The Commission will send a copy of this Order to
Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 8
Cable television, Common carriers, Communications, Computer
technology, Consumer protection, Electronic products, Internet,
Labeling, Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Satellites,
Security measures, Telecommunications, Telephone.
47 CFR Part 20
Administrative practice and procedure, Common carriers,
Communications, Communications common carriers, Communications
equipment, Environmental impact statements, Radio, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Satellites, Security measures,
Telecommunications, Telephone.
47 CFR Part 51
Communications, Communications common carriers, Telecommunications,
Telephone.
Federal Communications Commission.
Joseph Calascione
Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau.
Final Rules
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR parts 8, 20, and 51 as follows:
[[Page 38408]]
0
1. Revise the part heading for part 8 to read as follows:
PART 8--INTERNET TRANSPARENCY FOR CONSUMERS
0
2. The authority citation for part 8 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154, 201(b), 257, 302a, 303(r),
312, 333, 503 and 1753.
0
3. Revise the heading for subpart A to read as follows:
Subpart A--Broadband Transparency
Sec. 8.1 [Removed]
0
4. Remove Sec. 8.1.
Sec. 8.2 [Redesignated as Sec. 8.1]
0
5. Redesignate Sec. 8.2 as Sec. 8.1.
0
6. Amend newly redesignated Sec. 8.1 by revising paragraph (a)
introductory text and paragraph (b), and adding paragraph (c) to read
as follows:
Sec. 8.1 Transparency.
(a) Any person providing broadband internet access service shall
publicly disclose accurate information regarding the network management
practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms of its
broadband internet access services sufficient to enable consumers to
make informed choices regarding the purchase and use of such services
and entrepreneurs and other small businesses to develop, market, and
maintain internet offerings. Such disclosure shall be made via a
publicly available, easily accessible website or through transmittal to
the Commission.
* * * * *
(b) Broadband internet access service is a mass-market retail
service by wire or radio that provides the capability to transmit data
to and receive data from all or substantially all internet endpoints,
including any capabilities that are incidental to and enable the
operation of the communications service, but excluding dial-up internet
access service. This term also encompasses any service that the
Commission finds to be providing a functional equivalent of the service
described in the previous sentence or that is used to evade the
protections set forth in this part. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(1)
through (6) of this section, ``mass-market'' services exclude service
offerings customized for the customer through individually negotiated
agreements even when the services are supported by federal universal
service support.
(c) A network management practice is reasonable if it is
appropriate and tailored to achieving a legitimate network management
purpose, taking into account the particular network architecture and
technology of the broadband internet access service.
Sec. Sec. 8.3 and 8.6 [Removed]
0
7. Remove Sec. Sec. 8.3 and 8.6.
PART 20--COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICES
0
8. The authority citation for part 20 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 152(a), 154(i), 155, 157, 160, 201,
214, 222, 251(e), 301, 302a, 303, 303(b), 303(r), 307, 307(a), 309,
309(j)(3), 316, 316(a), 332, 610, 615, 615a, 615b, and 615c, unless
otherwise noted.
0
9. Amend Sec. 20.3 by:
0
a. In the definition of ``Commercial mobile radio service'', revising
paragraph (2);
0
b. In the definition of ``Interconnected service'', revising paragraph
(1); and
0
c. Revising the definition of ``Public switched network''.
The revisions to read as follows:
Sec. 20.3 Definitions.
* * * * *
Commercial mobile radio service. * * *
(2) The functional equivalent of such a mobile service described in
paragraph (1) of this definition.
* * * * *
Interconnected service. * * *
(1) That is interconnected with the public switched network, or
interconnected with the public switched network through an
interconnected service provider, that gives subscribers the capability
to communicate to or receive communication from all other users on the
public switched network; or
* * * * *
Public switched network. Any common carrier switched network,
whether by wire or radio, including local exchange carriers,
interexchange carriers, and mobile service providers, that uses the
North American Numbering Plan in connection with the provision of
switched services.
* * * * *
PART 51--INTERCONNECTION
0
10. The authority citation for part 51 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151-55, 201-05, 207-09, 218, 225-27, 251-
52, 271, 332 unless otherwise noted.
Sec. Sec. 51.303, 51.405, 51.513, and 51.611 [Removed and Reserved]
0
11. Remove and reserve Sec. Sec. 51.303, 51.405, 51.513, and 51.611.
[FR Doc. 2025-15107 Filed 8-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P