O'Reilly Urges Localities To Ease Wireless Tower Citing or Face FCC Prodding
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly called on localities to facilitate wireless tower siting, or face commission intervention to move things along. Speaking at a town hall held by Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., in Spotsylvania, Virginia, on Wednesday, O'Rielly said the FCC…
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needs to review wireless build-out policies and technical requirements to ensure they encourage network expansion. "Part of this will require cooperation by the local governments," he said, according to written remarks posted Thursday. "The simple fact is that wireless providers are going to need to install thousands of new facilities to provide service. I get the fact that not everyone likes the aesthetics of towers but they are a necessity for wireless broadband. For those local governments that stall or try to block tower siting, know that you will see the Commission step in with appropriate authority to push things forward." O'Rielly also discussed FCC efforts to make more spectrum available and to update USF support for broadband.