Ajit Pai slams cities and towns as FCC erases $2 billion in local fees

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Jeffrey Coolidge)

The Federal Communications Commission today finalized an order that will prevent city and town governments from charging wireless carriers about $2 billion dollars' worth of fees related to deployment of wireless equipment such as small cells.

The decision has angered both large and small municipalities, as we reported last week.

The FCC's Republican majority says that limiting local fees will cause carriers to build 5G networks in rural and sparsely populated areas where it would otherwise be financially unfeasible. But the order doesn't require carriers to deploy any more broadband than they otherwise would have, and carriers already promised nationwide 5G networks before the FCC made its proposal.

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