US Supreme Court hears AT&T and Verizon FCC fines case

The US Supreme Court heard arguments on 21 April in a case in which AT&T and Verizon challenged the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) authority to issue operator fines through its forfeiture order process. The case could change how the FCC enforces penalties against US mobile operators.

The dispute centers on whether the FCC's forfeiture order process violates the US Constitution's Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial by allowing the agency to assess wrongdoing and set penalties before a court hears the case. The case stems from FCC findings that operators sold customer location data to aggregators, which then resold access to third-party location-based service providers without proper user consent. In 2024, the FCC finalised nearly $200 million in fines: about $80 million for T-Mobile US, $12 million for Sprint before its merger with T-Mobile, $57 million for AT&T, and nearly $46.9 million for Verizon.

The legal challenge focuses on process rather than the underlying data-sharing findings. Reuters reported that AT&T and Verizon's appeals contributed to a split between federal appeals courts: the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC's fine against Verizon, while the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in AT&T's case that the FCC's initial assessment of wrongdoing and a fine deprived the company of its constitutional right to a jury trial. Reuters also reported that the Trump administration backed the FCC, arguing that the agency's assessments are not binding because operators can still contest enforcement in court before a jury.