The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the FCC in upholding the vast majority of three orders to accelerate the deployment of wireless and wireline broadband infrastructure. In the cases, local and state governments were seeking to FCC rules that streamline the installation of 5G infrastructure over the objection of local authorities.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai states: “Today’s decision is a massive victory for U.S. leadership in 5G, our nation’s economy, and American consumers. The court rightly affirmed the FCC’s efforts to ensure that infrastructure deployment critical to 5G—a key part of our 5G FAST Plan—is not impeded by exorbitant fees imposed by state and local governments, undue delays in local permitting, and unreasonable barriers to pole access. The wind is at our backs: With the FCC’s infrastructure policies now ratified by the court, along with pathbreaking spectrum auctions concluded, ongoing, and to come, America is well-positioned to extend its global lead in 5G and American consumers will benefit from the next generation of wireless technologies and services.”
FCC acts to streamline 5G upgrades by limiting local review
The FCC is clarifying rules regarding state and local government review of modifications to existing wireless infrastructure. The action is expected to expedite the rollout of 5G networks by limiting state and local government review of certain requests to modify wireless transmission equipment on existing structures.
Specifically, the Declaratory Ruling adopted today clarifies the Commission’s 2014 rules with regard to when the 60-day shot clock for local review begins. The ruling also clarifies how certain aspects of proposed modifications – height increases, equipment cabinet additions, and impact on concealment elements and aesthetic conditions – affect eligibility for streamlined review under section 6409(a). In addition, today’s action clarifies that, under the Commission’s rules on environmental and historic preservation review, FCC applicants do not need to submit environmental assessments based only on potential impacts to historic properties when parties have entered into a memorandum of agreement to mitigate effects on those properties.
