Pasadena, Texas, Is Denied Cert in City’s Small Cells Battle vs. Crown Castle

The U.S. Supreme Court denied the Dec. 26 cert petition (docket 23-698) of the city of Pasadena, Texas, to reverse the 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court’s affirmation of the district court’s judgment in Crown Castle’s favor that Section 253 of the Telecommunications Act preempts the spacing and undergrounding requirements in the city’s design manual for the installation of small cells and support poles in its public rights of way (see 2312300001), said the court’s published order list Tuesday. The 5th Circuit ruled Aug. 4 that Pasadena’s design manual imposed burdensome requirements on Crown Castle’s small-node networks, and was part of the battle between telecommunications providers that are trying to expand 5G wireless services and municipalities that are resisting that expansion (see 2308070002). The 5th Circuit on Sept. 25 also denied the city’s petition for a rehearing or rehearing en banc of the Aug. 4 decision (see 2309260032). Crown Castle waived its right to file a response to Pasadena’s cert petition (see 2401040003).