Big City Criticisms About Small-Cell Draft Order Unsurprising, Carr Says
Pushback from some major cities against the draft order on next week's agenda on local and state regulatory authority over small-cell deployments (see 1809140012) is no surprise, since those markets will enjoy 5G rollout regardless of what potentially onerous regulatory…
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burdens they enforce, said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr at a Media Institute lunch Thursday. Earlier that day, he likewise defended the order at another event (see 1809200007). He told the luncheon that the support the FCC has gotten from smaller cities and rural areas for the draft order is more important than concerns. He said cutting regulatory burdens for deployment is expected to free up sizable economic resources that then change the business case for deploying in smaller communities. The draft order is patterned in many ways after laws in multiple states on small-cell deployment, with "reasonable" caps on fees and shot clocks for dealing with applications, he said. Asked about lack of a "deemed granted" provision in the draft order, he said that wasn't seen necessary because of the shot clock language. Carr sounded what have become familiar themes about the heated U.S.-China rivalry over leading in 5G deployment. The last such major tech inflection point was the move from 3G to 4G, and the U.S. global dominance then "transformed our economy," Carr said, saying China sees being first in 5G as "a chance to flip the script" and dominate tech space. He said, along with freeing up spectrum for 5G, the U.S. has an "infrastructure challenge."