FCC Has Plenty of Authority to Speed Local Siting Decisions, American Tower Says
Sections 253 and 332 of the Communications Act give the FCC “ample authority” to act on local siting rules and practices that “unduly” slow the deployment of wireless infrastructure, including deployment of small cells in public rights-of-way, American Tower told…
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the FCC. “Any curtailment of local siting authority through the exercise of such authority should be accomplished in a way that addresses legitimate concerns raised by local governments, which should be taken into consideration and accommodated to the extent that they do not unduly burden or impede the deployment of new or expanded broadband wireless services,” the tower company said in docket 17-79. “The ultimate outcome should be local siting rules that are reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent.” Densifying networks for 5G “will entail the deployment of hundreds of thousands of small cells” and will be difficult, American Tower said. “Appropriate policies can enhance and expedite private sector investment in the integrated network infrastructure needed for next generation broadband services.”