Operators face local opposition to 5G small cell deployments

Portland (OR) is suing the Federal Communications Commission for its wireless pre-emption order, which went into effect in Jan 2019 and limits local government authority to regulate how 5G small cell equipment is deployed. In Sept 2018, the FCC passed a wireless pre-emption order that it says will help streamline 5G small cell deployments and ensure that wireless carriers have low-cost access to public rights of way and existing support structures such as city-owned utility poles and street lights. The FCC has said the order was necessary to “help ensure the United States wins the global race to 5G,” by removing regulatory barriers that it claims would “unlawfully inhibit the deployment of infrastructure necessary to support these new services.” Wireless carriers have argued that a rapid 5G deployment will require rules to help carriers navigate the permitting process which varies across local governments and municipalities. This is a problem that carriers had to deal with when deploying 4G small cells. Portland's Mayor Ted Wheeler has called the FCC order a “land grab against local infrastructure.”