Cities will sue FCC to stop 5G Deployment order

A number of cities plan to sue the Federal Communications Commission over its decision to preempt local rules on deployment of 5G wireless equipment. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes said their city intends to appeal the FCC order in federal court. Seattle will be coordinating with other cities on a lawsuit, they said. The FCC says its order will save carriers $2 billion, less than one percent of the estimated $275 billion it will take to deploy 5G across the country. In Oregon, the Portland City Council voted to approve a lawsuit against the FCC, saying the move "added Portland to a growing list of cities, primarily on the West Coast, that are preparing to fight" the FCC order.  "The scope of this overreach is significant," Durkan and Holmes said. "It impedes local authority to serve as trustees of public property and to fulfill cities' public health and safety responsibilities while establishing unworkable standards. This will increase costs and impose an unreasonable burden on local governments." The Seattle officials said they "are particularly concerned about how the Order will compromise the safety, security, and reliability of critical electrical infrastructure, City Light's utility poles."