Jan. 29 Status Conference Set in T-Mobile’s Tower Fight vs. N.Y. Town

All Phase I discovery in T-Mobile’s cell tower fight against Oyster Bay, New York, will be complete by Jan. 12, and an in-person status conference is scheduled for Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. EST in the Central Islip courthouse, said a text-only scheduling order Wednesday from U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields for Eastern New York. T-Mobile sued Oyster Bay July 13 for Telecommunications Act violations for the town’s “unreasonable and unsupportable denial” of T-Mobile’s application for a rear yard variance necessary to install and operate a wireless telecom facility to remedy a significant gap in wireless services in the area (see 2307140001). The town is challenging T-Mobile’s lawsuit on constitutional grounds (see 2308090016). It argues that T-Mobile’s claims violate the 10th Amendment “by commandeering local municipalities to issue zoning approvals and building permits,” despite local objections and compliance with state and local “substantive and procedural law.”