Senators Eye Legislation Focused on Wireless Broadband Deployment
Senators see legislative potential in easing the deployment of wireless broadband, they agreed during a Wednesday Commerce Committee hearing. “The recent Broadband Opportunity Council report includes a number of recommendations on ways to speed broadband deployment on federal lands,” said committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. “And just last week, the General Services Administration, under guidance from Congress in our last major spectrum policy bill, took significant steps to improve the processes for seeking access to federal lands and buildings for the placement of wireless infrastructure.”
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Three senators introduced legislation Wednesday to compel the GSA to coordinate with agencies, a provision that Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., one of its backers, mentioned during the hearing. Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., are the bill’s other backers, and Gardner touted the bill before witnesses. Its goal is “to make changes in how we streamline and invest in the broadband infrastructure,” Klobuchar said. Gardner emphasized its “Dig Once” provisions. The bill wasn't posted online Wednesday.
“I’m thrilled that you’re introducing bipartisan legislation today,” PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein told Senate Commerce, saying the bill “hits the right notes” and properly addresses “roadblocks” to deployment. Adelstein also emphasized the benefits of the Wireless Innovation Act (S-1618), a bill from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also addressing wireless siting issues.
“I agree with Jonathan that we should be laying conduit whenever possible,” NTIA Associate Administrator Douglas Kinkoph told Commerce. Kinkoph told lawmakers the administration’s Broadband Opportunity Council, which NTIA plays a key part in, would address the issue of broadband deployment on federal land. The Department of Transportation can help clarify for states the opportunities of conduit and pole attachment access, he said: “There’s a lot of clarity that needs to be pushed out to the states.”
GSA’s recent actions don't make up for past delays, Adelstein argued. “Congress mandated they do that in 2012, and here we are in 2015,” he said. “Every site is different.” Adelstein hammered on the benefits of advancing legislation, pointing to the benefits of “coming up with more standardized processes” so stakeholders aren't “reinventing the wheel” every time a leasing issue comes up.
To say local governments are barriers to wireless infrastructure deployment is “simply wrong,” said Gary Resnick, mayor of Wilton Manors, Florida, and chairman of the FCC’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee. The siting time frames in place now “have worked well in my state and around the country,” he said. It’s unwise for industry or local officials to portray one another as “obstacles," he added.
Adelstein slammed localities that “second guess” where industry wants to deploy broadband or “try to dictate what the technology is” when they have no real expertise. “They don’t understand the complexities that go into that nor should they,” Adelstein told Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. Often municipalities don't delay deployment but sometimes it’s the case, Adelstein said. Resnick mentioned many localities still see “plenty of applications for large towers,” a number that doesn’t seem “diminished” in Florida or elsewhere: “It seems actually to be growing now, the need for the industry to construct large towers as opposed to small cells.” He mentioned many local governments need more education on the workings of small cell technology. But he mentioned how local governments have been proactive in working with carriers on the infrastructure, such as the large tower in his town that’s part of a “camouflaged facility.”
Thune inquired about a possible shot clock for other federal agencies. “The shot clock, in my opinion, is very effective,” Bruce Morrison, a vice president at Ericsson, told him. The method could help “not just for permitting and zoning but also the lease opportunity,” he said. Adelstein also praised the shot clock as a tool. Thune also asked about a national data inventory looking at infrastructure and availability on federal property. “It seems that NTIA is well positioned to manage such a database,” especially with its past management of the National Broadband Map, Thune told NTIA’s Kinkoph, who countered that “resources are always an issue.” NTIA is currently assessing that very issue as part of the Broadband Opportunity Council, Kinkoph added, telling Thune that locations for towers, conduit, fiber and national security concerns could all be part of the type of database Thune wondered about.