The FCC is circulating a proposed ruling to help clear a tower-si...

projects would affect historic preservation lands. Carriers can file notifications with the FCC after 2 failed attempts to contact a tribe; now, hundreds of them are pending at the Commission, slowing siting of new antennas. The issue rankles the wireless industry. CTIA proposed a “3-strike” proposal, under which a notification would be deemed granted after 2 failed attempts by a tower applicant and one by the FCC to contact a tribe. Specifically, a carrier would be able to refer a case to the FCC if it didn’t get a response 40 days after first notifying a tribe. The FCC then would have 20 days to reach out to the tribe. United South & Eastern Tribes (USET), which represents 24 tribes, backed that proposal. “We are moving toward [the 3-strike proposal] but are still working on edges of it,” the source said. If adopted, the proposal would reverse a Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (NPA) provision barring a carrier from proceeding with a tower siting until it gets a green light from a tribe. The NPA was signed last year by the FCC, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NSCHPO) and the Advisory Council of Historic Preservation. Comr. Adelstein has backed the 3-strike method. Adelstein thinks that regime “would resolve the backlog problem right away,” his aide has said. The order is expected to be adopted “in the next day or 2,” the source said: “We are very focused on having it done soon.”