Court Denies T-Mobile a Stay in Calif. USF Case

A federal judge again refused to pause California’s move to a connections-based contribution method for state USF. T-Mobile and subsidiaries pressed the U.S. District Court of Northern California Friday to apply a stay while they appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the district court’s previous denial of preliminary injunction (see 2304070043). Ruling Sunday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler denied T-Mobile a stay of the California Public Utilities Commission rule. Beeler also denied T-Mobile’s alternative request for an administrative stay until the 9th Circuit decides the stay issue. “The court denies the motion for the reasons it denied a preliminary injunction,” the judge wrote in case 3:23-cv-00483. The CPUC’s rule is different but not inconsistent with FCC rules, she said. “The plaintiffs did not show a likelihood of success on the merits or serious questions going to the merits, and the balance of equities and the public interest in any event did not tip in their favor.” T-Mobile, late Monday, filed an emergency motion for stay or injunction pending appeal at the 9th Circuit. Since the CPUC order took effect April 1, appellants “are already suffering ongoing, irreparable harms” and request an immediate administrative stay while the court decides Monday’s motion, upon which it wants a ruling by May 1, the carrier said. Without relief, appellants will suffer “financial losses … of nearly $11 million per month, loss of business and customer goodwill, and reputational harm.”