FCC promises more of the “P-word” – preemption – in 2020

8 January 2020 by Steve Blum
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Line to see pai ces 7jan2020

Due to the nature of the program, you’re going to have to go through metal detectors.
CTA staffer to long queue waiting to see Ajit Pai.

Ajit Pai made his first appearance at CES as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission yesterday, sitting down for a talk about the coming year with Gary Shapiro, the CEO of the show’s organiser, the Consumer Technology Association. Much of the conversation was about 5G infrastructure, and the public policy that surrounds it.

More preemptions of local and state authority over wireless sites, utility poles and the use of the public right of way are on the FCC’s agenda. Pai reiterated his belief that wireless policy should be made at the federal level, including policy that’s traditionally in the hands of states and local governments.

“We want to see a consistent, easy to understand set of regulations that anyone can innovate around”, Pai said. Mobile carriers and infrastructure companies want “a consistent level of regulation” as they build out 5G networks. Which means rules should be set by the FCC and not state legislatures or city councils. Pai intends to “encourage” state and local governments to approve permit applications small cell sites and other wireless facilities. “Multiple layers of government” are “not conducive to infrastructure investment”, he said.

His wingmen in the FCC republican majority echoed his comments. Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, along with democratic commissioner Geoffrey Starks, took part in a panel discussion later in the afternoon at the Las Vegas show. O’Rielly put it bluntly…

It’s not just small cells. It’s going to mean more macro towers. That means dealing with difficult issues on placement when states and localities want to either extract too much money or try to dictate what services will be offered. That’s problematic and I’ve been talking about this for a long time. It does come with the P-word, which is – it requires preemption. And that is something the commission is going to have to continue to do.

Cities and counties should expect more “bold actions”, as Carr put it, from the FCC.