The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai has said that the “FCC should facilitate, rather than frustrate, innovation.” The purpose of this two-part article is to describe recent FCC actions to promote wireless technology deployment by clarifying rulings related to Section 6409(a) of the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. (The FCC refers to this as the Spectrum Act.)

This first article will provide an overview of Section 6409(a) and some of the vexing issues that have come to the fore as a result of municipalities’ and carriers’ experience implementing its provisions. The second article will provide an overview of two recent FCC Orders that respond to these issues and provide clarity as well as further constraints on local government review of minor wireless facility modifications.