Tennessee Legislature Passes Small-Cells Bill; Hawaii Bill Close

to concur with amendments. Tennessee state Sen. Bill Ketron (R), the bill's sponsor, said lawmakers listened to cities’ concerns and made more than 50 changes to the bill. The session was livestreamed Wednesday. While voting yes, Sen. Lee Harris (D) said he worried about taking control from local governments when they work with big telecom carriers. “I’m inclined to support this bill,” said Harris, “but it does give me pause that we would intervene in these negotiations and set a price,” which seems to put a “thumb on the scale,” he said. Ketron said lawmakers increased maximum pole-collocation fees to a “reasonable” $100 annually from $35. Some cities wanted to charge $2,500, but “this is not made to be an opportunity to cash in on poles because that would be passed on to all the users through their rate fees, and I know my [wireless bill is] already high enough,” he said. Tennessee passage follows local governments declaring several early 2018 victories defeating or getting concessions to industry bills (see 1804100036).