UPDATE Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) President/CEO Patrick Halley believes a new administration and incoming Congress bring new energy into policy-making. “We want to capitalize on that energy and focus it in a direction that will ensure we are able to meet our full 5G potential,” Halley tells Inside Towers in an interview. “WIA’s on the job.”
In its wireless priorities for the next administration and new session of Congress, setting a predictable, proportionate and transparent national framework for broadband permitting is one of the trade lobby’s main goals, Inside Towers reported. For example, a request for a new tower shouldn’t be treated the same as a request to upgrade an existing cell site, notes Halley. The FCC has done much over the years to streamline broadband permitting, something WIA has worked on with the agency for years, according to the WIA executive.
Yet some member companies are still running into permitting problems, according to Halley. “As a general matter, local governments appreciate the importance of wireless infrastructure but in some communities unfortunately there are still delays that make things not proportionate or transparent,” said Halley. “I don’t think that’s the norm, but there are some communities where we still do run into some delays.”
WIA also wants to ensure the FCC’s broadband permitting rules are not challenged by courts. He said the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC’s 5G upgrade rules, passed in 2020, last year. “That was because the court deferred to the expertise of the FCC,” said Halley.
There’s some concern that too much deference to federal agencies can lead to court challenges by local governments. “That’s not good for communities. That’s not good for consumers,” he says. “That’s why we want to see Congress codify what the FCC has already done,” with a national broadband permitting law.
He emphasizes, “We completely understand and appreciate the role of local government. Nothing about our agenda suggests otherwise. Everything here continues to have a role for local government. We partner with them every day in communities across the country,” Halley says.
Halley explains, “These rules say you have to provide a response in a reasonable amount of time, and the fees that you charge have to be based on your costs. When it’s existing infrastructure that a local government has already approved, it doesn’t make sense for the project to start from scratch every time they want to add new equipment to a tower. These are common-sense things that respect the role of local government but also respect the fact that it’s critical that we deploy this infrastructure as quickly as possible.”
A national law would make broadband permitting and deployment more predictable, Halley explains. “You still have to go through all the steps you always have to go through to deploy wireless infrastructure. But at least you’ll know with confidence and certainty when you can deploy, on what timeline, so you can plan for the project to be done.”
Asked whether he’s hopeful the new Congress will act on such legislation, Halley says, “Yes.” He cited the incoming FCC Chair, Commissioner Brendan Carr, “who has been the most supportive FCC Commissioner when it comes to wireless infrastructure issues.” Halley noted that Carr led the FCC effort on wireless infrastructure streamlining in years past.
“We have a Congress who understands the importance of wireless connectivity and understands we will not achieve the full benefit of 5G if we don’t have the infrastructure to deploy it,” explains Halley. “When you have a Chair at the FCC and a Congress all controlled by one party who understands the pro-investment and pro-deployment policies, we have a good chance at making some good progress here.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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