The Wireless Infrastructure Association is hard at work explaining to regulators that while it may appear to outsiders the industry is swimming in money, it’s actually not as data prices drop. The wireless industry is under financial pressure to pay for the buildout of 5G, explained WIA President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein during a regulatory update for members.
“There are some new business models people are looking at,” such as fixed wireless, he said. Adelstein added the low latency of 5G opens up new business models from gaming and virtual reality, IoT and multi-channel video.
“On a federal and state level we’re getting enormous help in terms of where we need support for getting broadband out there,” he said on yesterday’s webinar. Twenty-one states enacted bills to streamline small cell siting, including permitting shot clocks; two, Pennsylvania and Michigan, are considering the issue now. Potentially 12 more states will consider such legislation in 2019.
He credited Congress for directing money to the FCC for more spectrum auctions for wireless use, as well as funds for rural broadband deployment. He applauded the FCC for its work to modernize small cell siting rules. He singled out the recent changes for pole attachments; they include a ban on siting moratoria. “We’ve been fighting moratoria for years.” He called that a “big win” for the industry.
All told, the Commission’s recent wireless infrastructure siting streamlining is “saving the wireless industry from untold misery.”
August 17, 2018
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