Court Upholds Most of FCC's 5G Deployment Deregulation

A federal appeals court has upheld most of the Federal Communications Commission's orders speeding the deployment of cell service buildouts by easing regulations on those 5G deployments, including pole attachments and various local reviews of buildouts. Specifically upheld were the Small Cell Order, the Moratoria Order, and the One Touch Make-Ready Order, all parts of the FCC's Accelerating Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure order. 

Over the objections of local government officials and the reservations of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC voted in Sept 2018 to streamline the path to small cell deployment, including the rules on site reviews, billing it as crucial to the rollout of 5G wireless service, an FCC and Trump Administration priority. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said that, given the deference owed the FCC in interpreting Telecommunications Act, the FCC's orders, with the exception of a provision on asethetic regulations in the Small Cell Order, was within its authority and not arbitrary and capricious.