Duke Energy asked the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review an FCC November order denying its petition for reconsideration on a pole attachment rate dispute with AT&T. Parts of the order "exceed or are inconsistent with the FCC’s jurisdiction and statutory authority" and are "an abuse of discretion," the company said in a petition posted Monday in docket 22-2220 (see 2211170051). It also argued the order violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Duke asked the court to vacate parts of the order "to be designated in the time, form, and manner required by the court." The petition stems from a September 2021 Enforcement Bureau order partly granting AT&T's complaint that it was charged "unjust and unreasonable" pole attachment rates by Duke (see 2109210075). AT&T declined to comment. The FCC didn't comment.

A Consumers' Research brief is due Dec. 27 at the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its Oct. 6 petition for review of the FCC's USF 2022 Q4 contribution factor on grounds that it's illegal and should be rejected, said a memorandum Thursday (docket 22-13315). The petition argued that the contribution factor exceeds the commission's statutory authority under the delegation doctrine and is considered a tax. Consumers' Research filed multiple objections with the FCC on its proposed quarterly contribution factors and previously filed petitions for review before the 5th and 6th U.S. Circuit courts on behalf of itself and several individuals.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen Mix for Colorado in a minute order Wednesday (docket 1:21-cv-03004) said plaintiffs and defendants in Qwest v. Peerless Network must “make a showing in writing” by Nov. 10 explaining why “private mediation is not feasible under the circumstances of this case.” At issue in her order is the plaintiffs’ Sept. 7 motion to stay the case and refer the outstanding complex and technical issues in the proceeding to the FCC (see 2210200050). Failure to respond by the Nov. 10 deadline will result in the denial of the motion, she said. The case involves negotiated interconnect agreements and the access tariffs associated with them. Qwest, Level 3 and Global Crossing sued Peerless affiliates in eight states in November alleging that they engaged in a scheme of avoiding mandatory switched access charges, thereby giving them an unfair competitive advantage in the toll-free marketplace. The defendants countersued in March alleging the companies used unfair and unsupported billing methods, to the detriment of the Peerless affiliates.

The FCC’s respondent brief in Consumers’ Research’s 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenge of the USF rules (see 2110050056) is due Dec. 5, said an order Friday in docket 21-3886. An optional reply from Consumers’ Research is due 21 days later, said the order. Consumer’s Research also has a similar ongoing case in the 5th Circuit.

Allband Communications Cooperative is still waiting for the FCC to act on its pending 2018 application for review of the agency’s order on the company’s petition for a waiver of the cap on USF support, said a status report Wednesday filed with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Allband v. FCC, docket 16-4059. Allband “is determining whether a meeting can be scheduled with the FCC Staff and Counsel for the Commission for the purposes of advancing a resolution of the remaining issues which are relevant to Allband's appeal,” the filing said. “The timing or date of such meetings remain undecided due in part to the pending nomination of a new FCC Commissioner to fill an existing Commission vacancy, possible changes in FCC Staff positions, and the resumption of in-person meetings at the FCC.”

The government voluntarily dismissed its Sept. 30 complaint to recover $20,000 in an unpaid FCC forfeiture penalty from Osnet Wireless, said a notice Friday in U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico (docket 3:22-cv-01472). Osnet was alleged to have operated two wireless base station devices in a restricted 2300 MHz band without a license, and was accused of ignoring the FCC’s October 2020 notice of apparent liability proposing the fine and the agency’s March 2021 forfeiture order affirming the penalty (see 2210070018).

Each side will be given 15 minutes in oral argument Nov. 1 in Schwab Multimedia v. FCC, said a clerk’s order Thursday (docket 22-1016) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Schwab is appealing an FCC order denying its tolling extension request for a construction permit involving its new AM station, KWIF in Culver City, California (see 2210130046).

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr backed an Office of General Counsel amicus on the National Lifeline Association's challenge of the California Public Utilities Commission's requirement that wireless providers charge no co-payment to participate in the state's Lifeline program. Carr, in a statement Friday, agreed with the brief's position that the commission "has never addressed whether states may advance universal service by requiring wireless providers to offer minimum service standard plans with a $0 copayment as a condition of receiving state subsidies through a voluntary program like California LifeLine." The brief, filed in August in case 21-15969 with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, was written in support of neither party.

Northern Valley Communications and the FCC filed a joint stipulation with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to dismiss the company's appeal of an FCC order requiring Northern Valley to remove its tariff revisions and submit new revisions (see 2006110072). Both sides will cover the costs and fees of the appeal, they said Friday.

Circuit Judges Patricia Millett, Robert Wilkins and Justin Walker will comprise the panel assigned to hear oral argument Nov. 1 at the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit in Schwab Multimedia’s appeal of an FCC order denying its tolling extension request for a construction permit involving its new AM station, KWIF in Culver City, California, said a clerk’s order Wednesday in docket 22-1016. Schwab sought the extension in September 2020, arguing COVID-19-related issues prevented it from completing construction of the station. The commission denied Schwab’s request in January on grounds there was no evidence of a “causal connection” between Schwab’s claims of continued COVID-related impediments and its failure to construct. With the denial, Schwab’s construction permit to build KWIF expired. Schwab argues the FCC’s denial was arbitrary, inconsistent with its own precedent and based on misstated or overlooked facts.