The tax relief and jobs bill passed by Congress earlier this month may speed the process of tower and base station upgrades. In addition to freeing up more spectrum for wireless broadband, the bill would make it harder for city governments to deny tower company requests to modify sites.
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If the proposed modification does not “substantially change the physical dimensions of such tower or base station,” the bill instructs the municipality to approve the modification. Adding or replacing antenna could be seen as a change to the physical dimensions of a site by some antagonistic city governments.
The proposed law, which President Obama is expected to sign, defines modification as collocation of new transmission equipment, the removal of transmission equipment and the replacement of transmission equipment. It does not supersede the Federal Communications Commission’s requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.
