The FCC Gets Dense About Wireless

While the TV commercials show beautiful pictures of red, blue and other colors of coverage, our friend Jeff Cohn’s website Deadcellzones.com spots it differently when it comes to cell-phone coverage areas. Often, even the most populated areas are subject to spotty coverage. Just as often the fault is not with the carrier, but with the rules and regulations being placed on them by local government.

People get upset with the thought that their neighborhood will have a tower, no matter how distributed the antenna or small the cell.

So when our friends at Towerstream sent out the following press release, I wanted to concur:

“Towerstream Corporation, a leading 4G and Small Cell Rooftop Tower company, praised the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) recent vote to approve new rules designed to accelerate the deployment of small cell and wireless infrastructure, as carriers look to densify their networks with small cell architectures.”

"The FCC recognizes that wireless networks need to be densified in order to address the tremendous growth in mobile data consumption," added Jeffrey Thompson, president and CEO of Towerstream. "Densification will require a multitude of solutions including small cells, Wi-Fi, and distributed antenna systems. The FCC's order will accelerate the deployment of these wireless technologies to address the unique challenges associated with delivering wireless services in densely populated urban areas."

But Thompson wasn’t the only one to chime in.

"The FCC's action addresses many of the challenges that HetNets Tower Corporation encountered in constructing a small-cell-based, wireless infrastructure solution in four major urban markets in the country," noted Arthur Giftakis, VP of engineering. "These rules will streamline the review process by state and local municipalities regarding environmental, historic preservation, and other regulatory matters. Clearer rules that favor build-out over red tape will not only accelerate carrier adoption of small cell solutions in dense urban markets, but also provide a strong platform if HetNets expands into other markets in the future."

Specific provisions of the FCC order include:

• Excluding small cell, distributed antenna systems, and certain other discrete wireless facilities from environmental and historic preservation review, particularly for those deployments leveraging building rooftops and utility poles in rights-of-way;
• Defining certain terms of the Spectrum Act and rules for their implementation at the state and local level, including a new "shot clock", which requires that an application be addressed within 60 days or it is deemed granted. This ensures the efficient use of previously-approved structures to support new antennas and technology upgrades; and
• Limiting when additional information can be requested regarding an application and clarifying when the shot clock begins and when it can be tolled.

When a wireless carrier goes out of its landline local footprint, in some cases companies have had to navigate the local deployment strategies by selecting third party services that are less than ideal for their network architectures.

Companies like Towerstream and the HetNet are designed to provide the optimal architecture for their clients, so it’s understandable that they see the opportunity to provide the coverage needed.