Carr Announces Small Cell Plan in Indiana Statehouse Speech

September 4, 2018

FCC Comm. Brendan Carr unveiled his proposal to cut costs and streamline approval periods for small cells in remarks given on the Senate floor of the Indiana Statehouse this morning. Carr’s plan, set to be voted on at the FCC’s Sept. 25 Open Meeting, is modeled on the small cell bills enacted in 20 states across the country.

“At the federal level, we have learned from the forward-looking legislation that local leaders have enacted in 20 states and counting,” said Carr. “My plan builds on those grassroots, commonsense reforms and extends regulatory relief throughout the country so that no community will be left behind.”

Carr’s plan has four main components:

Implements long-standing federal law that bars municipal rules that have the effect of prohibiting deployment of wireless service
Allows municipalities to charge fees for reviewing small cell deployments when such fees are limited to recovering the municipalities’ costs, and provides guidance on specific fee levels that would comply with this standard
Requires municipalities to approve or disapprove applications to attach small cells to existing structures within 60 days and applications to build new small cell poles within 90 days
Places modest guardrails on other municipal rules that may prohibit service while reaffirming localities’ traditional roles in, for example, reasonable aesthetic reviews

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) applauded Carr for unveiling his 5G plan to increase small cell deployment and streamline wireless infrastructure siting policies in order to bring broadband to more Americans.

NATE Executive Director Todd Schlekeway, said “Over the last five months, NATE has played a prominent role providing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioner Carr and their respective staff members with tangible opportunities to visit sites and experience first-hand the role that wireless infrastructure and siting policies play in the deployment of macro towers and small cells that are both so critical to 5G.

“The plan that Commissioner Carr unveiled today takes the successful tenets of small cell deployment legislation that have been passed by some of the states and standardizes them in a manner that will provide a road map moving forward that is necessary to ensure more Americans are in a position to take advantage of broadband and 5G networks in the future,” added Schlekeway.

Wireless Infrastructure Association President and CEO Jonathan Adelstein also applauded Comm. Carr’s announcement.

“In his announcement, Commissioner Carr rightly reaffirmed a balanced framework with localities over wireless infrastructure decisions where appropriate, while ensuring that commonsense guardrails apply to actions that inhibit broadband deployment,” Adelstein said in a prepared statement. “The partnerships between the wireless industry and local communities remains crucial to 5G deployment and Commissioner Carr’s announcement strikes a positive tone to build upon them.”

According to a recent study, Carr’s plan will save $2 billion in unnecessary fees, stimulate $2.5 billion in additional small cell deployments and create more than 27,000 jobs.