Cities to FCC: Stop Scapegoating Us on 5G Deployment

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Next Century Cities is pushing back on the FCC's efforts to exempt some wireless deployments from local historic or environmental reviews, saying they are being scapegoated unfairly as impediments to broadband deployment. Three dozen mayors and other elected officials signed the letter defending local decisionmaking in 5G small-cell deployments. "The Commission should be focused on encouraging investment in better networks," the officials wrote, "rather than limiting our local authority merely because the large internet companies find it inconvenient to pay their fair share in using the public rights-of-way.

[Next Century Cities is a consortium of public officials committed to advancing next-generation broadband in their communities.]