ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice on planned efforts to help wireless communications carriers develop a seamless nationwide network by launching a clearinghouse to organize tower collocation efforts.
The Collocation Clearinghouse is designed to help carriers identify collocation possibilities sooner than is presently possible in the network deployment process. The clearinghouse will document efforts either to place new base stations on existing structures or to coordinate with other carriers to construct shared facilities.
PCIA sought the department’s approval to ensure that carriers participating in the clearinghouse would not be in violation of federal antitrust laws. Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein wrote in his letter approving the clearing house that “the exchange of broad expansion plans between rivals certainly could raise antitrust risks,” but he also noted that the clearinghouse should have no anti-competitive effects and suggested it could have a pro-competitive effect by reducing barriers to entry, said PCIA.
With Justice approval, PCIA now plans to begin beta testing of the database. The tests are expected to be completed by early summer.
PCIA President Jay Kitchen mentioned a national poll commissioned by PCIA in early March and conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, which showed 66 percent of Americans favor the addition of towers and antennas in their community “as long as that infrastructure fits the community’s character.”
