Page 34 - Summer 2019 Journal

By January 2019, over half of U.S. states had passed legislation to streamline 5G’s buildout.
STREAMLINING 5G INFRASTRUCTURE Beginning in 2016, the American Leg- islative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Koch brothers-backed group that is an advocate for industry interests, wrote sample legislation to “streamline” (ease) the buildout of 5G. These bills promote installing fiber optic cables to densely deployed small cell sites on public rights-of-way—such as utility poles and school rooftops—and on federal and state lands (see Figure 1). At the same time, they severely restrict local zoning review requirements for installing telecom facilities, including the dis- tributed antenna systems (DAS) used to provide coverage on campuses, inside large office build- ings or in places with large crowds that expect
wireless services.
By January 2019, over half of U.S. states
had passed ALEC-inspired legislation to streamline 5G’s buildout.13 Two federal Acts passed in 2017-2018—the MOBILE NOW Act and the DIGIT Act—also restrict local author- ity over installation of telecom infrastructure. Further, the FCC has enacted rules that restrict states’ and municipalities’ ability to use the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
and the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act in zoning and siting reviews for telecom facilities. Finally, the FCC shortened the time that municipalities have to respond to telecom permit applications from ninety to sixty days.
Taken together, these mandates prohibit municipalities from enacting a moratorium on 5G and small cell site infrastructure. At the same time, they severely restrict the amount of money that a municipality can charge telecom providers for accessing publicly owned rights- of-way. They effectively remove normal zoning requirements such as neighborhood notification and public hearings regarding installation of telecom facilities.14
PUSHBACK BY CITIZENS AND MUNICIPALITIES
A national coalition of nearly one hundred municipalities is suing the FCC, arguing that the FCC lacks the statutory authority to issue such restrictive regulations.15
In addition, California Congresswomen Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier have introduced House Resolution 530, the Accelerating Wire- less Broadband Development by Empowering
FIGURE 1. Planned deployment of small cell sites on public rights-of-way
This map shows Crown Castle’s plan to deploy distributed antenna sites (small cells) on public rights-of-way in a Maryland suburb. Other carriers are expected to deploy yet more cell sites.
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Wise Traditions SUMMER2019