The Ill. Supreme Court ruled that the state universal fund can’t ...
The Ill. Supreme Court ruled that the state universal fund can’t restrict high-cost support to a single line for each residence or business. The court affirmed lower court decisions that reversed an Ill. Commerce Commission to limit state support…
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to the primary line serving customer premises. The court (Case 97172) said the ICC acted out of an incorrect belief that the FCC intended for federal universal service support to be limited to one line: “We do not find the federal government’s lists of services eligible for support to be so restrictive.” The court disregarded the ICC argument that the legislation establishing a state universal service fund left it to the agency to decide the number of lines to be supported. In another court case, the Ill. Court of Appeals said the ICC violated SBC’s due process rights in 1999 when it ordered SBC to invest $600 million annually in its network indefinitely. The ICC imposed the requirement as a condition for approving SBC’s acquisition of Ameritech. The court said that while the ICC could impose network investment requirements as a merger condition, it erred by not holding specific hearings to determine the appropriate spending amount. Since the merger, SBC has invested $3.7 billion in its Ill. network.