Opinion ID: 3030701
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: General Ban

Text: A city-wide general ban on wireless services would certainly constitute an impermissible prohibition of wireless services under the TCA. In fact, this is the only circumstance under which the Fourth Circuit will find an impermissible prohibition under the statute. See AT & T Wireless, 155 F.3d at 428 (holding that only “blanket prohibitions” and “general bans or policies” affecting all wireless providers count as effective prohibition of wireless services under the TCA). Under this rule, which is based on a strict plain meaning analysis, individual zoning decisions or persistent coverage gaps can never constitute a prohibition under the statute — courts must ask only whether local governments have (effectively) banned wireless services altogether. Id. The City asks us to adopt the Fourth Circuit’s interpretation as well, noting that the House Conference Committee’s Report on the TCA seems to anticipate a narrow, bare-bones approach: “It is the intent of this section that bans or policies that have the effect of banning personal wireless services or facilities not be allowed and that decisions be made on a case-by-case basis.” H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 104-458, at 208 (1996). However, for a variety of reasons, we decline to adopt the Fourth Circuit rule on this point. The language of the TCA, while sparse, does not dictate such a narrow interpretation even under a plain meaning approach. As the First Circuit has observed, given the current structure of the wireless services market, “[t]he fact that some carrier provides some service to some consumers does not in itself mean that the town has not effectively prohibited services to other consumers.” Second Generation Props., 313 F.3d at 634. Additionally the Fourth Circuit’s interpretation, by permitting all but the most restricMETROPCS, INC. v. SAN FRANCISCO 2735 tive local zoning policies, could actually thwart Congress’s twin goals of encouraging competition in the wireless services industry and facilitating efficient use of bandwidth. The touchstone of our prohibition analysis is therefore not limited to blanket bans or general policies prohibiting wireless services. The TCA framework requires a more discriminating inquiry. (See our discussion of the “Significant Gap” analysis, infra.) Turning briefly to the merits, the record offers no support for MetroPCS’s assertion that the City has imposed a “general ban” on wireless services, against new providers or anyone else. Aside from the fact that it would be extremely dubious to infer a general ban from a single CUP denial, the record reveals that the City has been receptive to wireless providers in general and MetroPCS in particular. It is undisputed that the City has authorized the installation of some 2,000 antennas at about 450 sites around the city, including 30 MetroPCS sites. This undercuts any assertion that the City has placed a general ban on new market entrants. The district court made virtually identical observations in its own finding that no general ban exists, 259 F. Supp. 2d at 1013, and we uphold this ruling as entirely correct.