United States Telecom Association v. Federal Communications Commission
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
359 F.3d 554 (2004)
Relevant factsFree
Under the Telecommunications Act, the FCC was tasked with determining which network elements incumbent carriers must unbundle for competitors based on whether lack of access would impair competitors' ability to provide service, and after prior FCC approaches were struck down, its new order authorized state regulatory commissions to independently define relevant markets and make binding impairment determinations, subject only to unspecified, non-mandatory FCC review.
IssueFree
Whether, under administrative law, a federal agency may subdelegate its decision-making authority to entities outside the federal government.