Communications Act Rewrite Hearings Likely in 2017, NATOA Told
Congress probably will work on a Communications Act rewrite next year, but enactment is more likely in 2018, a local telecom attorney said on a NATOA webinar Monday. Chances of Congress enacting the rewrite in 2017 are “not high, but…
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there will be movement in that direction,” said Spiegel & McDiarmid's Tim Lay, predicting several hearings. With the GOP controlling the executive branch and Congress, it could pass in 2018, he said. Lay predicted the next FCC may agree with a Mobilitie petition for a ruling interpreting Section 253(C) to preclude cities from charging carriers more than other providers for use of the right of way. Local governments disagreed with the petition, he said. The current FCC wasn’t a particularly “friendly forum” to local governments on the wireless siting issue, and next year’s agency probably will be less friendly, he said. The current GOP commissioners have “have been quite vocal … saying that local governments have been an obstacle to wireless deployment,” he said. Best Best local telecom legal practitioner Gail Karish said Mobilitie filed alone without the rest of the wireless industry, showing the company may be an “outlier” in the wireless community. Lay said though the company filed alone, it doesn’t mean others in the industry won’t support the petition after the FCC seeks comment.