Appeals court rules against industry in pre-emption case

WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court rejected a request by Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. to stay its reversal of a Federal Communications Commission decision pre-empting state regulation of line-items on mobile phone bills. The move denies industry’s attempt to keep the 11th Circuit’s ruling in limbo while it seeks a review of the issue by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The No. 3 and No. 4 national mobile phone operators filed the motion with 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals Dec. 6. The 11th Circuit denied the motion on Dec. 14.
The mobile phone industry still plans to ask the high court early next year to review the 11th Circuit’s July 31 decision. The decision struck down the line-item, pre-emption component of the FCC’s truth-in-billing order.
The mobile phone industry, which remains vulnerable to billing regulation and lawsuits by states and consumers, has aggressively lobbied the FCC and Congress to expand federal pre-emption of states. A 1993 law forbids states from regulating wireless rates or market entry, but leaves to states jurisdiction over “other terms and conditions” of commercial wireless services.
A bill introduced in Congress this year would have given the mobile phone industry the national regulatory framework it sought, but the bill died.