FCC Mostly Prevails in Challenge to 5G Infrastructure Order (1)

A Ninth Circuit panel has largely upheld a Federal Communications Commission order that limits local governments’ authority to regulate the installation of 5G wireless infrastructure.

The 2018 order is largely “in accord with the congressional directive” and “not otherwise arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law,” a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote in the decision.

The ruling is a major victory for the FCC and wireless carriers in a fight with municipalities and power companies that challenged the agency’s efforts to remove regulatory barriers that can delay the buildout of 5G networks. ...