The Federal Communications Commission is set to consider rule changes this month that will expedite wireless infrastructure deployment. The new initiative singles out small cells and distributed antenna systems, noting their “minimal effects on the environment.”
The goal of the rule change is to make it easier for wireless service providers to win regulatory approval from municipalities for these deployments. The FCC has placed the rule change on the agenda for its October 17 open meeting.
“The FCC clearly gets it. They are getting ahead of the curve,” said PCIA president Jonathan Adelstein today. PCIA expects the result of this month’s FCC meeting to be a “far-ranging order on infrastructure.”
Known as the Broadband Acceleration NPRM (notice of proposed rule making), the new regulation would expedite the commission’s environmental and historic preservation review processes for proposed small cell and distributed antenna system deployments. The NPRM also proposes a narrow exemption from the commission’s pre-construction environmental notification requirements for certain temporary towers.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has recently blogged about his support for faster deployment of DAS and small cells.
“New Distributed Antenna System (DAS) networks and other small-cell systems use components that are a fraction of the size of traditional macrocells and can be installed — unobtrusively — on utility poles, buildings, and other existing structures,” wrote Wheeler. “The draft order accounts for that change by crafting a far more efficient process for small deployments that do not trigger concerns about environmental protection or historic preservation.”
Wheeler pointed out that speeding infrastructure deployment is part of his agency’s overall strategy for enabling the U.S. to capitalize on mobile innovation. He said the FCC is also committed to making more spectrum available for broadband and to using the market and technology to ensure more efficient and effective use of our spectrum. The first item on the FCC’s October 17 agenda is a discussion of ways to use spectrum above 24 GHz for mobile wireless services. But it was Wheeler’s comments on small cell and DAS deployments that elicited the most positive response from the wireless infrastructure industry.
“PCIA is thrilled that FCC leadership and staff continues its critical work to streamline the rules and regulations surrounding the much-need expansion and upgrading of America’s wireless infrastructure this fall,” said PCIA president and CEO Jonathan Adelstein in a statement. “As Chairman Wheeler noted, ‘High-speed mobile broadband requires high-speed broadband buildout.’ PCIA couldn’t agree more and looks forward to a final order.”
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