Carr Praises Court Decision Not to Block 5G Order

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr Friday praised a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit decision not to stay the FCC's September 2018 5G order.

That was the order, motormanned by Carr, that took various steps to speed wireless infrastructure deployment.

Related: House Dems Seek Delay of FCC 5G Infrastructure Vote

The order 1) established a shot clock for decisions on small wireless facilities (60 days for collocation on preexisting structures and 90 days for new builds); 2) codified other existing shot clocks; 3) made all state and local authorizations for deployment of personal wireless service subject to those clocks; and 4) concluded that a failure to make those shot-clock deadlines is a "presumptive prohibition on the provision of services."

“Yesterday’s court decision is more good news for U.S. leadership on 5G," said Carr, issuing his own press release since staffers have been furloughed during the shutdown. "The commonsense reforms the FCC adopted will help ensure that every community sees the benefits and economic opportunities that 5G will enable. And it ensures that needless regulatory roadblocks will not prevent our country’s hard-working telecom crews from building the next-generation networks needed to support 5G. I look forward to continuing our efforts to bring more broadband to more Americans.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.