Justices endorse FCC authority in cellphone tower case

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has authority to try to speed up the process for installing wireless communications towers when local governments have been slow to act.

The case hinged on a federal law requiring state and local governments to act on tower-siting applications within a "reasonable period of time."

In a 6-3 vote, the court said that the agency has leeway to interpret ambiguity in the law about the extent of its regulatory authority.

The FCC had decided that 90-day and 150-day deadlines relating to decisions on cellphone towers were fair, and a federal appeals court upheld its decision.

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