UPDATE On Monday, Rep. Mike LaRosa’s (R-St. Cloud) proposal aimed at making it easier for telecom companies to add hardware to telephone poles to provide 5G service headed to the Florida House of Representatives floor, WUSF News reported.
“Small cell technology will benefit Floridians today, and into the future,” LaRosa says. “Small cells will help deliver increased data capacity, faster connectivity speeds, and overall better wireless experience.”
Local governments have their own concerns with this proposal, though, which will streamline the process for placing new access points on municipally owned poles. The main apprehension with the proposal is the state-mandated cap on rates. The proposal limits the amount local governments can charge at $150 annually per pole. In contrast, the fair market values based on fifty large cities are closer to $2,250 per pole annually, according to Ken Schmidt, president of Steel In The Air. That’s a stark difference from the market cap proposed in by Rep. LaRosa.
However, some Florida cities are more concerned with wireless coverage than the mandated cap. Rep. Nicholas Duran (D-Miami) told WUSF News, “The City of Miami actually is the second worst city in connectivity—digital divide—in our state and in this country in many respects. So, for me, this is a question of how can we break down this digital divide.”
The primary issue is tied to the low, uniform rates of the proposal. The “under market” value may be an unfair benefit for wireless providers and will certainly be an economic loss for local governments. Proponents of the cap argue the additional hardware not only will increase wireless service, a quality of life issue for all residents, but will create a more attractive business environment.
April 27, 2017
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