Despite a report earlier this year where residents in Pennsylvania’s state capitol spoke enthusiastically about 5G coming to town, not everyone is happy with the roll-out. Resident, Alexander Clark, told WPMT-TV the installation of the 5G poles has been noisy and disruptive. He claims that re-routed traffic during the process has resulted in a reduction in productivity, especially for those working from home. “I think the city should be financially liable for that,” he noted.
Harrisburg plans to install 120 5G poles throughout the city. In addition to bringing connectivity to the residents, the deployment will also bring in revenue. Each of the new poles that replaces an existing streetlight will now serve double duty. Verizon will pay Harrisburg a $100 fee for each 5G antenna it installs, with the promise of an additional $270 per pole each year.
City Engineer, Wayne Martin, acknowledged that the FCC allows telecoms a lot of leeway when constructing a digital network. He said that although there is no requirement in place mandating pole placement and notification to homeowners, he has found Verizon to be pretty accommodating. “The FCC order does restrict what we can do. So far, Verizon has been cooperative with any asks,” he noted, but cautioned, “Say we can get a pole moved, [but] that doesn’t mean AT&T won’t want to put one there.”
Verizon Employee Communications & Consumer Public Relations Manager, Chris Serico, also spoke with WPMT. He pointed to a recent study saying that 90 percent of home buyers rank a good internet connection upon their top concerns. “We spend a great deal of time with each community to take into account unique needs while engineering the best possible network. As part of this process, our engineers study existing data traffic and anticipate the need to determine placement for small cells,” he explained.
Verizon’s website asserts, “critical information will be accessible to public safety and healthcare providers much more seamlessly with 5G.” Although the installation process itself may have uncomfortable moments for residents, the same survey cited above found that 80 percent of home buyers believe that a good internet connection makes their home more valuable.
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