Small-Cell, DAS Installments Need Cooperation
Local governments don't generally do a good job regulating small cells and distributed antenna systems (DAS), said Jonathan Kramer, principal attorney-Telecom Law Firm, Monday during a webinar hosted by NATOA. “We don't regulate buzzwords and we don't regulate technology,” he…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
said. "We're not allowed to regulate technologies under federal law, but we are, and should, be regulating community asthetics." As wireless companies move away from using cell towers, they will need to install tens of thousands of small cells and DAS in communities to continue to have good coverage, which gives those companies and municipalities a chance to work together, said Gabriel Garcia, director and senior counsel-CPS Energy. The carriers will need citywide installation sites, access to poles, electricity connections, fiber backhaul, predictable city procedures and right-of-way permitting, he said. Wireless carriers will want cities to have rights of way throughout the city, their own traffic light poles, fiber lines along rights of way and control of rights of way outside the zoning process, Garcia said. A license agreement needs to benefit both parties, he said. “The general bargain is that the local government would grant a master license for the provider to install small cells or DAS anywhere in the city,” Garcia said.