While the demand for mobile phone service is growing throughout the United States, the ability of service providers to meet that demand has been hampered in some cases by court decisions that deny carriers the right to provide service, if a competing wireless carrier is already serving the community. As discussed herein, siting decisions which deny land use approvals for mobile telephone facilities based on existing coverage by other carriers, conflict with the clear meaning and legislative history of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the TCA).[1]�
Accordingly, the availability of competing wireless service should not be considered by a court or other fact finding body (such as zoning or planning boards), when deciding a tower siting dispute.
