Legal intelligence for telecom, tech and media professionals

Biography for Gabriella Novello

Gabriella Novello, Assistant Editor, is a journalist for Communications Daily covering telecommunications and the Federal Communications Commission. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2020, after covering election integrity and the 2020 presidential election at WhoWhatWhy. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in health promotion at American University. You can follow Novello on Instagram and Twitter: @NOVELLOGAB.

Recent Articles by Gabriella Novello

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit pressed Consumers' Research Friday on its challenge of the FCC's Q2 2023 USF contribution factor (case 23-1091). During oral argument, judges also questioned the group and the FCC about Universal Service Administrative Co. calculations to determine quarterly factors and definition of universal service (see 2401100044).Read More >>

Wisconsin Bell failed to persuade the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant its petition for an en banc rehearing of an August decision reversing and remanding a lower court ruling regarding how much the company charged schools and libraries through the FCC's E-rate program (see 2308020067). The opinion, released Tuesday in case 22-1515, noted that no judge sought a vote for a rehearing.Read More >>

Consumers' Research asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its cert petition challenging the FCC's method for determining the USF quarterly contribution factor, saying the case presents "an excellent vehicle for addressing the contours of nondelegation whose abuses highlight the dangers of delegated and politically unaccountable power." Docketed Friday (docket 23-743), the petition asked the court to review a Dec. 14 decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the Q4 2022 contribution factor (see 2312140058). Responses to the new petition are due Feb. 8.Read More >>

The FCC didn't violate the nondelegation doctrine when it used the Universal Service Administrative Co. to calculate quarterly USF contribution factors and administer USF programs, a federal court ruled Thursday. In denying Consumers' Research's challenge of the FCC contribution factor (see 2306220062), the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals noted "all USAC action is subordinate to the FCC, and the FCC retains ultimate decision-making power."Read More >>

Judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned the FCC on how the commission structures its Universal Service Fund and oversees the role the Universal Service Administrative Co. plays in determining quarterly contribution factors during an en banc hearing Tuesday. Some pressed Consumers' Research on how the private nondelegation doctrine applied to its challenge of the Q1 2022 USF contribution factor (see 2309010060).Read More >>