Court puts off decision on backup power for cellular towers

A federal appeals court decided to put off a ruling on a challenge by the wireless industry of rules that would ensure cell towers stay on in the event of a power loss.

In May 2007, the Federal Communications Commission proposed regulations that would mandate all cellular transmission towers have at least eight hours of emergency power. The decision followed a study of cellular service following the Katrina disaster.

That panel found that most of the cell phone towers within the direct path of that storm went offline as their primary sources of power were cut. In turn, this caused communications problems for first responders in the wake of the storm.

Wireless carriers have taken issue with the new provisions, and asked the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit to overturn the provisions. The court declined Tuesday, saying it wanted to wait for approval from the Office of Management and Budget, which is required to sign off on any regulations or rulings that require the collection and submission of information from the public.

The new provisions stem from an October revision which allowed carriers to exempt certain towers if they could prove the installation would be too expensive or difficult. While carriers were given six months, opponents argued to the court it would still would amount to massive amounts of paperwork.

Carriers also said the amount of generators and battery packs needed overall would make the project costly to implement.

Since the law is not approved yet, the court could not rule, it said. Even so, its application had already been stayed in May pending the court arguments of both sides, and would remain so regardless of the OMB's decision.

While the CTIA wireless industry association -- one of the complainants in the case -- said it was pleased with the decision, the FCC would not comment on the court's decision. Analysts believe that the wireless industry will ultimately prevail in the matter.