Florida bills could ease small cell deployment process

As carriers and advocacy groups push for streamlined small cell regulatory frameworks, lawmakers in the Sunshine State say, ‘Florida needs 5G’

While carriers in the U.S. have steadily deployed small cells to solve for challenging coverage and capacity scenarios, the rate of deployment has long lagged behind projections. In many cases, this is because municipal governments often treat small cells just like macro towers in terms of legislative concurrency. When the goal is to deploy thousands of units following a replicable process, uncertainty in the approval process costs time and money. However, after years of lobbying and educational efforts, it appears states are beginning to come around.

On the national level, last month the Federal Communications Commission adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking, which, among other things, “begins an examination of how state and local processes affect the speed and cost of infrastructure deployment,” according to the agency. One aspect of the NPRM considers “whether siting applications that are not acted on by state or local governments within a reasonable period of time should be ‘deemed granted’ by commission rules.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who moved to the top spot under President Donald Trump, commented on the potential new rules in the context of 5G. “I have heard time and time again how current rules and procedures impede the timely, cost-effective deployment of wireless infrastructure. This will only become a bigger problem as our wireless networks evolve. A key feature of the transition from 4G to 5G is a change in network architecture. The future of wireless will evolve from large, macro-cell towers to include thousands of densely-deployed small cells, operating at lower power. As networks evolve, our rules should too.”

At the state level, Arizona passed legislation meant to accelerate and streamline wireless infrastructure deployments by removing regulatory and fee structures. Virginia and Colorado have followed suit, and now Florida, one of the most populous states in the country, is considering companion bills that will make small cell deployment an easier, less costly process.

In a nutshell, the Advanced Wireless Infrastructure Act, outlined in House Bill 687 and Senate Bill 596, would prohibit the Florida Department of Transportation and local government bodies from regulating or charging carriers who want to locate “small wireless facilities” on public rights-of-way. Across Florida local leaders view the pending legislation as removing control from towns and cities while pandering to the telecom industry.

According to a report in on PalmBeachPost.com, Eric Poole, the deputy director of public policy for the Florida Counties Association called the bill “a one-way street. It says the telecommunications industry can come into any county and city and require us to give them a permit to colocate one of their small cell packages on any our utility poles, light poles, signs of traffic arm signals. We can’t tell them no.”

The Tallahassee Democrat recently published an op-ed from Sen. Travis Hutson (R-Palm Coast) and Rep. Mike La Rosa (R-St. Cloud), sponsors of the Senate and House bills respectively, furthering the 5G argument.

“5G is the next generation of wireless networks that will allow users to move data at much faster speeds. In order for Florida to be a part of this technological revolution that is beginning to happen in other states, wireless communication providers, like Verizon and AT&T, need to be able to put in place the proper infrastructure needed to support 5G technology from the Panhandle to the Keys.”