A case about a Federal Communications Commission program that subsidizes telecommunications in underserved areas raises big legal questions for other agencies.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Wednesday to hear the Federal Communications Commission's defense of the mechanism it uses to fund a multi-billion dollar effort to expand phone and broadband internet access to low-income and rural Americans and other beneficiaries.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in a major challenge to the federal “E-rate program,” which subsidizes telephone and high-speed internet services in schools, libraries, rural areas,