CTIA, National League of Cities at Odds on Revised Tower Siting Rules
CTIA said the FCC should shorten the collocation approval shot clock imposed on local communities and permit tower collocations by right. The assertion came in reply comments on the commission’s April acceleration of a broadband deployment notice of inquiry. CTIA said the FCC has plenty of authority under the Communications Act to impose additional siting rules on local governments. Major associations representing local governments disagreed.
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The FCC has been presented with two very different views of the world as it has sought comment on revised siting rules, CTIA said (http://xrl.us/bme78u). “Local government agencies describe a process that works well, in which delays rarely occur -- and, when delays are experienced, they stem from wireless applicants’ failure to supply needed information,” the group said. “Viewing the same siting process, the wireless industry describes a process that is rife with uncertainty, delay, needless complexity, and misallocated resources on the part of zoning authorities.” The record isn’t that simple, CTIA said. Many local governments have made progress and put rules in place to speed tower buildout, the group said: “Unfortunately, many local government comments reflect an unwillingness to acknowledge that a problem exists, and [they] oppose any effort by the Commission to attempt to free the logjam where it exists by improving the wireless facilities siting process."
CTIA called on the FCC to shorten the zoning shot clock for collocation of towers at existing sites, to 45 or 60 days instead of the current 90 days. The FCC should also encourage local governments to allow collocations “by right” on previously approved towers or structures. “As part of its review of the role municipal consultants perform in the tower siting process, CTIA urges the Commission to consider whether particular arrangements between local governments and municipal consultants -- where the consultants’ fees are involuntarily funded by tower applicants through an escrow arrangement -- interfere with the timely buildout of the nation’s wireless structure and act as a barrier to the establishment of personal wireless services,” the filing said.
PCIA agreed the FCC can do more to speed wireless buildout, requiring faster approvals for collocations and distributed antenna systems and educating local governments about the wireless industry. “Barriers can increase the costs of siting by over twenty percent, slowing billions in economic activity that could be realized from new broadband deployment,” PCIA said (http://xrl.us/bme8aq). “The record reflects that Commission action is needed to confront these barriers, in order to accelerate broadband infrastructure build out and investment."
But several local government heavy hitters also weighed in on the NOI. The National League of Cities said changes called for by industry to speed up zoning decisions would be “unnecessary and disruptive.” Industry commenters have made “accusations aplenty, generally without providing any substantive detail,” the filing said (http://xrl.us/bme8be). “Upon investigation, the accusations have proven to be riddled with errors. Many were outright falsehoods, others omitted pertinent information, and still others misread or misunderstood local ordinances. The Commission cannot rely on these undocumented, unserved claims to justify any further action in this proceeding.” Other groups including the National Association of Counties, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors signed onto the filing.
New York City took aim at specific complaints by CenturyLink, NextG and others about problems broadband providers have encountered in trying to install facilities in various cities including New York (http://xrl.us/bme8sr). “NextG alleges in its comments that the City’s treatment of NextG ‘is an example of delay, discrimination, and municipal treatment of wireless deployment as a revenue center,'” N.Y.C. said. “In fact, NextG pursued litigation against the City for years while others signed reasonable franchise agreements with the City. All the while NextG claimed in court that it could not financially support the City’s compensation requirements and that the City’s system for allocating pole locations fairly among different competitors was unworkable for NextG."
"The shot clocks or other timing restrictions advocated by some industry commenters could disable cooperative conflict resolution and, worse, force construction before conflicts are fully resolved, putting both installed facilities and public safety at risk,” Philadelphia said. “The national fee ceiling or fee parameters advocated by other industry commenters could preclude the City from recovering its costs for permitting, inspection, conflict resolution and the information systems to support them.”