Wireless Industry Says Few Communities Holding Up Small Cells
AUSTIN -- “It’s really a small minority” of communities making it tough for the wireless industry to install small cells for 5G, said a Wireless Infrastructure Association official Thursday at the NATOA conference. He, CTIA and Mobilitie officials said industry wants a dialogue with local governments as companies roll out tens of thousands of 5G small cells. Throughout the conference, local officials and attorneys objected to the tone of recent comments by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler about speeding local siting of small cells, with some warning attendees to be worried about possible commission action.
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“There will be additional facilities coming forward in the thousands, the tens of thousands,” said WIA Director-Government Affairs Zachary Champ on a 5G panel Thursday that went into overtime due to the number of audience questions. “It will require additional infrastructure and dialogues with you all on how to work with you in a responsible way that is congruent with your communities.” Industry has been able to work with most communities, he said. NATOA Executive Director Steve Traylor recently said local governments don't see an immediate problem, but the group would be glad to work with the FCC and industry on small-cell siting issues (see 1609080074).
Conference host Austin is one city with restrictive siting limits, said Mobilitie Senior Vice President-Network Strategy Jason Caliento. Austin’s “current policy around small-cell deployments for example is totally inadequate for what they’re trying to provide for South by Southwest,” he said. “There’s a very active wireless carrier conversation going with the city. … They’re falling behind their sister cities in San Antonio and Houston.” Austin didn't comment.
The wireless industry seeks “flexible processes” in local governments, said CTIA Assistant Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Brian Josef. He supported shot clocks on how long a locality can review a small-cells contract. “Nothing focuses an effort like a deadline,” he said: “Shot clocks have provided certainty on both sides,” for industry and the government. Applicants should provide information to cities about what they’re doing, but governments should impose “moratoria” on processing applications, he said. Champ agreed on shot clocks and said it’s helpful to have a point of contact in cities to spearhead the cell-siting issue.
The panel’s moderator condemned “unfortunate comments” from Washington “to the effect that local governments are erecting roadblocks” to 5G growth. “I find these allegations to be uninformed, misleading, unhelpful and unsupported by the record,” said Seattle Office of Cable Communications Director Tony Perez. Local governments want the latest technologies, but must balance other local issues, he said.
“If it’s a small minority, there are ways to deal with that without broad, pre-emptory federal rules that affect the vast majority of local governments that are doing it right,” said attorney and ex-NATOA board member Ken Fellman in an interview Thursday. He praised WIA and CTIA for coming to the conference and wanting to talk because he said collaboration has worked in the past: “If the commission starts a process that would create significant restrictions on local authority, it’s going to put us in an adversarial position with the industry, and I think it will end up doing more harm than good.”
“Cities ought to be very concerned with the comments out of the FCC if we’re being viewed as the barrier to entry,” Moss & Barnett municipal communications lawyer Brian Grogan warned on a Wednesday panel. “Most of us are not acting as the barrier to entry. We’re struggling on how best to move forward on these issues. What we’re trying to do is come up with a model formula to move these forward more quickly, but there is a learning curve on some of this new technology.”
The FCC is looking at ways to streamline its rules to spur 5G deployment, Wireless Bureau Assistant Chief Dan Abeyta said during a panel Thursday. He said the FCC wants to have 5G educational workshops convening federal and local governments and the wireless industry to help all parties "get in front of the issues we need to address."
The wireless industry panel highlighted several smart city apps that could be enabled by 5G, including fleet management and infrastructure monitoring. It also will enhance public safety capabilities, for example by enabling gunshot sensors and allowing fire chiefs to download HD maps of buildings. They said 4G won’t go away and will still be critical for coverage over long distances.
NATOA Notebook
Bills in Congress to allow municipal broadband expansion banned by the recent decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals aren’t likely to pass, but at least get a conversation started, said a National League of Cities official on a NATOA panel Thursday. The 6th Circuit affirmed state laws banning muni broadband expansion in North Carolina and Tennessee, and the FCC said it wouldn’t appeal (see 1608290054). Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Anna Eshoo of California have bills but neither has “bipartisan support or even much support,” said NLC Principal Associate Technology and Communications Angelina Panettieri. Congress could address the issue in a future update of the Communication Act, said Gerry Lederer, a public-sector communications lawyer at the Best Best law firm. While municipalities lost on the legal argument, the case attracted public attention to the issue and could rally people together to overturn the state bans in the long run, said Sean Stokes, a public-sector communications lawyer with Baller Herbst.