Cite as: 534 U. S. 327 (2002)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
Court admit, the attachments here very well may be addressed by one of the Act's rate formulas. Moreover, neither the FCC nor the Court advances a single example of any attachment that is a covered "pole attachment" under the definition provided in § 224(a)(4) (1994 ed., Supp. V) but is not covered by either of the Act's specific rate methodologies.
This obviously suggests a dilemma: If all attachments covered by the Act are in fact addressed by the Act's specific rate methodologies, then the coverage of § 224(a)(4) is not greater than the sum of §§ 224(d) and (e), and the FCC has no residual power to define "just and reasonable" rates for attachments pursuant to § 224(b)(1) (1994 ed.). Yet the Court affirms that the FCC indeed possesses just such authority.
Unable to provide a single example of an attachment not addressed by either of the Act's specific rate methodologies, the most the Court can argue is that "[t]he sum of the transactions addressed by the rate formulas . . . is less than the theoretical coverage of the Act as a whole." Ante, at 336 (emphasis added). The Court, though, offers no reasoning whatsoever in support of this observation, nor does it have any basis in the record.
Leaving aside that which may or may not be theoretically possible, I do not have a view at the present time as to whether any attachments exist that are covered "pole attachments" under the Act, see § 224(a)(4) (1994 ed., Supp. V), but do not fall within the ambit of § 224(d) or § 224(e) (1994 ed. and Supp. V).7 I do question, however, whether Con-7 Two types of attachments are covered by § 224(a)(4) (1994 ed., Supp. V): those "by a cable television system" and those by a "provider of telecommunications service." Rates for attachments used to provide telecommunications service are covered by § 224(e)'s rate methodology regardless of whether these attachments are also used to provide cable service and/or other types of service as well. This is because § 224(e), unlike § 224(d)(3), does not contain the restriction that attachments must be used "solely" to provide a particular type of service for its methodology to apply. And rates for attachments used solely to provide cable service are regulated pursuant to § 224(d)'s methodology. See § 224(d)(3). As a result, the only
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