CTIA, NATOA at Odds on Moratoriums Ban

CTIA said the FCC is right to move forward on a ban on state and local moratoriums on new wireless facilities, part of a larger infrastructure item set to get a vote at Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting (see 1807130045 and 1807300040). CTIA said in a Friday filing in docket 17-79 that it spoke with aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel about the moratoriums and other infrastructure issues. “CTIA therefore applauded the Commission for its proposal to adopt a Declaratory Ruling to clarify that moratoria -- whether express or de facto, interim or not -- are barriers to wireless deployment and prohibited under the Communications Act,” the group said. “There is no more absolute prohibition on deployment than refusing to accept or act on applications. A local law that bars acceptance of applications and a local agency’s refusal to act on them have precisely the same impact -- no deployment is permitted -- and they are thus per se unlawful.” NATOA opposed the moratoriums. “We object to this ill-defined attempt to bend federal law to accommodate industry desires while ignoring the impact on communities across the country and doing nothing to address the digital divide,” the group said.