PCIA amicus brief to U.S. Supreme Court re T-Mobile vs. Roswell, GA

7/10/14 – PCIA submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, in support of T-Mobile in the case of T-Mobile South LLC v. City of Roswell, Georgia. PCIA petitioned the Court to reverse the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling and uphold the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) key mission under the Telecommunications Act of 1996: “encourag[ing] the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans” by removing arbitrary obstacles to infrastructure investment.

PCIA called on the Court to adopt the approach used in a majority of Federal Circuit Courts in enforcing the Act’s provision requiring localities to issue a written explanation based on substantial evidence if they choose todeny a wireless siting application. Too often in those Circuits that do not follow the majority approach, PCIA noted, communications providers such as T-Mobile are not adequately informed as to why a locality turned down their siting application, thus frustrating expedited judicial review as required by the Telecommunications Act and undermining the national goal of delivering wireless broadband services to all Americans.