The wireless industry is lobbying state legislatures across the country to ease local permitting for small cell infrastructure siting.
CTIA Director of State Legislative Affairs Beth Cooley testified before a Washington state Senate Committee in February; she said the wireless industry plans to deploy a quarter-of-a-million cell sites to accommodate 5G. To do that, providers need access to public rights-of-way. “Small cell technologies are generally installed on street furniture … utility poles, street lights, traffic signal poles,” Cooley said, according to NPR.
Small cell permitting legislation has been introduced in at least 19 states this year, following the passage of laws in Ohio and Kansas last year, according to CTIA. The wireless industry is also looking for access to municipal properties, reasonable costs and fees and streamlined permitting, Inside Towers reported.
But some municipalities are pushing back. Tacoma, WA Mayor Marilyn Strickland said: “We welcome higher speeds, but at the same time there has to be some respect for what we want here as a community,” reports NPR. During a walk in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood she described the purpose of an historic street lamp as decorative, not something to hold technology.
She’s concerned about a wireless-industry-backed bill in the state legislature to require local governments to allow small cell antennas to be attached to publicly-owned poles and structures that line city streets—unless there was a safety or engineering concern. The measure requires governments to approve small cell siting permits within 90 days and prohibit bans for aesthetic reasons except in historic areas; it would also limit municipal pole rental fees. Inside Towers reported industry lobbyists have told Congress all of these issues are obstacles wireless providers face as they prepare to locate infrastructure for 5G.
“We got a choice. We can be the broadband super highway or we can look like I-5 through Seattle at five o’clock in the afternoon,” said State Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee Chair Doug Ericksen.
April 13, 2017
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