National Cable & Telecommunications Assn., Inc. v. Gulf Power Co., 534 U.S. 327, 21 (2002)

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Cite as: 534 U. S. 327 (2002)

Opinion of Thomas, J.

of rearranging or replacing its attachment, if such rearrangement or replacement is required as a result of an additional attachment or the modification of an existing attachment sought by any other entity (including the owner of such pole, duct, conduit, or right-of-way).

Justice Thomas, with whom Justice Souter joins, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I join Parts I and III of the Court's opinion because I agree that the Pole Attachments Act, 47 U. S. C. § 224 (1994 ed. and Supp. V), grants the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) jurisdiction to regulate attachments by wireless telecommunications providers. The Court's conclusion in Part II of its opinion that the Act gives the FCC the authority to regulate rates for attachments providing commingled cable television service and high-speed Internet access may be correct as well.

Nevertheless, because the FCC failed to engage in reasoned decisionmaking before asserting jurisdiction over attachments transmitting these commingled services, I cannot agree with the Court that the judgment below should be reversed and the FCC's decision on this point allowed to stand. Instead, I would vacate the Court of Appeals' judgment and remand the cases to the FCC with instructions that the Commission clearly explain the specific statutory basis on which it is regulating rates for attachments that provide commingled cable television service and high-speed Internet access. Such a determination would require the Commission to decide at long last whether high-speed Internet access provided through cable wires constitutes cable service or telecommunications service or falls into neither category.

I

As these cases have been presented to this Court, the dispute over the FCC's authority to regulate rates for attachments providing commingled cable television service and high-speed Internet access turns on one central question:

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