AT&T goes to Supreme Court over federal pre-emption

AT&T Inc.’s Cingular Wireless asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a record $12 million fine levied by the California Public Utilities Commission against the top mobile phone carrier in 2004, putting before the high court another wireless industry appeal that turns on the claim of federal pre-emption.
The California Court of Appeals last year upheld the fine, prompting AT&T-which now owns Cingular-to petition the California Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision. The state supreme court denied the request.
In asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, AT&T said “pre-emption of state regulation is critical to the federal regulatory framework for wireless communications, and the reach of [the 1993 pre-emption statute] constitutes an issue of great public importance.”
A CPUC administrative law judge in 2003, following a three-year investigation, proposed a $12 million fine against then-Cingular for allegedly charging early termination fees and prohibiting refunds during a period when the mobile-phone carrier aggressively marketed its service without disclosing network problems to customers. The CPUC affirmed the fine the following year.
The U.S. Supreme Court is also considering a petition by Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. to review an 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling tossing out the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to pre-empt states from regulating line-item charges on mobile phone bills.