Tower siting at local level aids federal efforts: State wireless associations focus on grass-roots efforts

As FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski pledged his agency’s support for a “shot clock” to help facilitate tower-siting initiatives across the United States, state wireless associations continue to work at the local level to educate municipalities and state governments on the benefits of wireless infrastructure, and the wisdom of trying to find the right balance between keeping consumers connected wirelessly and the concerns of some advocacy groups.
Indeed, in its comments to the Federal Communications Commission on the competitive state of the wireless industry, PCIA mentioned obstacles to tower siting as one of the barriers to fostering competition in the wireless space. “Specifically, the commission should pre-empt local zoning of collocations for structures where antennas already exist. These collocations have minimal impact on a community and should not be subject to the same level of review as other siting applications. The commission should also act … to ensure that local siting decisions are made in a reasonable timeframe and are not unnecessarily delaying the deployment of crucial wireless infrastructure,” the federal trade association said.
While the umbrella organization lobbies at the federal level, volunteer state wireless association programs (SWAP) have been formed over the years to educate at the local level, and to show that the wireless industry is an integral part of each community.
“All siting issues are local,” said Nancy Chrisman, director of SWAP and membership at PCIA. In fact, the first state wireless association was started in Tennessee in 1999, when a group of volunteers, led by Janet Gill, decided they needed to more formally help educate state legislators about problems and inconsistencies in how towers were built across the state. The state group saw a real victory in its efforts in that collocations in the state are now part of an administrative process rather than a separate review for each tenant. The domino effect was set into motion: Alabama saw the need for an association, then Georgia and Florida heard about the successes these volunteer groups were having at the local level, and so they started their own groups. PCIA formally got involved around 2005, Chrisman noted, helping with guidelines about how to form state groups and gathering a set of best practices that state associations could share with each other.
Today 24 SWAPs are running encompassing 35 states, said Connie Durcsak, senior director of industry and government relations at PCIA.
Thousands of wireless industry executives belong to the state groups, Durcsak said. “These individuals live, eat, play and work in their communities,” she noted, and so are active participants in helping to educate regulators, opinion leaders and advocacy groups on tower-siting rules. “It’s an age-old problem. They want the services but they don’t want the infrastructure.”
“We work closely with the state wireless associations on advocacy at the state and local level,” said PCIA President and CEO Michael Fitch. “PCIA has expertise and member resources for the industry issues and the state wireless associations have grass roots make-up and credibility. We are a very effective team in advancing wireless infrastructure interests.”
“The foundation of advocacy is education,” said Chrisman.
Colorado newest state to form association
State associations bring a unified voice and balance to local zoning issues, said Craig Pruett of Terracon Consultants Inc., who is the president of the Colorado Wireless Association. People don’t want gaps in their wireless coverage, especially when they are concerned with public-safety issues like their children being able to call 911. Conversely, no one likes a tower build that is not well thought out.
Tower-siting issues could get even more complicated as more Distributed Antenna Systems come to market, Pruett noted. How do regulators charge for antennas attached to utility poles, he asked rhetorically.
Like its brethren across the nation, the Colorado association will have a steering committee, a regulatory committee, a membership/sponsor committee, education and public relations, and social and community service initiatives. Indeed, collectively state wireless associations have contributed nearly $900,000 to charities since forming.
Individual efforts
T-Mobile USA Inc. recently debuted Community QTube, effectively a “meeting in a box” designed to educate local community members. The collateral available for meeting with local communities can answer questions they have on siting, potential health-effects questions and property-value questions, as well as ensure that local wireless employees are presenting a consistent message even as they likely have conversations in a number of community venues.