March Infrastructure Order Made Some Siting Harder, Skyway Towers Says, Forecasting More Action
Skyway Towers said tribal review of tower projects continues to slow deployment, as it expects commissioners to vote on related issues as soon as next month (see 1808300028). Skyway thanked the FCC for the work it has done in cutting…
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regulatory red tape, but said a March order is slowing some projects. The order cuts red tape for tribal reviews of projects off tribal lands and makes clear applicants “have no legal obligation to pay upfront fees” when seeking tribal comment on proposed deployments (see 1803220027). “Other industries,” from fast food chains to gas stations, can build outlets “without being required to have those proposed sites reviewed by the tribal nations,” Skyway said. “By contrast, our industry must submit the very same locations for analysis by the tribes,” the tower company said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-79. “Recent actions by the Commission attempting to remedy the problem have actually slowed deployment.” Skyway said since the March order, some tribes disbanded offices they once had to review sites and “off-loaded the burden of those reviews to the Commission staff.” The FCC and groups representing the tribes didn’t comment. “WIA strongly supported the FCC’s efforts to lower barriers to wireless infrastructure deployment in its March order by addressing a number of outdated and unreasonably burdensome tribal review processes,” said Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein in response. “Moving forward, we remain confident that the commission is implementing the new process effectively to encourage investment and deployment of wireless infrastructure.”