District Court Won't Reconsider Santa Fe Infrastructure Case

The U.S. District Court in New Mexico denied CNSP’s motion to reconsider the court last month upholding a local telecom law requiring a revenue-based fee in Santa Fe (see 2210120030). “Given the substance of the Motion and the already-pending appeal, a reply would not aid [the court’s] its adjudication of the issue,” Judge Kenneth Gonzales ruled Nov. 15. An opposite conclusion by a New York federal court in Verizon Wireless v. Rochester (6:19-cv-06583) isn’t binding on the New Mexico court, he said. The FCC’s 2018 wireless infrastructure order’s effect “is a new issue, and this Court surmises it will be the subject of ongoing litigation,” said Gonzales. “If or when the standard governing right-of-way fees for wired internet service changes, this Court will dutifully apply it.” Waiting for the district court, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 17 lifted a pause on CNSP’s Oct. 28 appeal (case 22-2131).