Issues addressed include wireless collocation, expansion
DALLAS, Texas–The nationwide push to expand broadband access is forcing utilities to cooperate with wireless companies on collocating wireless equipment on utility poles. As such, leaders from both groups spent Friday at the Marriott Dallas City Center discussing joint use in pole attachmenst, dispute resolution, unauthorized attachments, rate issues, distributed antenna services and wireless collocation, or the act of placing multiple carriers within the same space for enhanced coverage ability while decreasing the amount of towers necessary to transmit. Wireless collocation is often required due to city, state and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.
“We see a market with a demand for wireless communication which is going through the roof,” said Bill Moroney, president and CEO of Utilities Telecommunications Council (UTC). “The infrastructure required to do that will be huge.”
“We are honored to have some representatives all the way from India who have come to learn about wireless collocation,” said Bill Tierney, operations manager for Portland General Electric Company. “I think one thing they’ve learned is to avoid regulation as much as possible,” Tierney said to a roomful of chuckles.
One of the major concerns, and one embraced by the FCC, is the expansion of broadband deployment across the nation, including a push into rural and underdeveloped areas.
According to The Texas Department of Agriculture, which directed non-profit Connected Texas to map out broadband use in the Lone Star State, more than 96 percent of Texans have broadband access. The organization also found that 3 to 5 percent of Texas households, or approximately 257,000 homes, do not have access to high-speed Internet, including mobile broadband. Connected Texas cites that a lack of broadband access hinders business opportunity, access to government agencies, higher education and telemedicine.
One of the problems of increasing this access is that mobile wireless carriers stand to make less money when accessing rural and undeveloped areas. Sharing access to utility poles and towers allows both the utility company and wireless company to share in the costs and negotiate rates for rental and construction.
Video highlights from the conference can be seen above.
