Accelerating Broadband, Part II

[Commentary] A couple months ago, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously adopted an order streamlining the rules for tower marking and lighting. That was the first in a series of FCC Wireless Bureau items designed to remove regulatory obstacles to clear the way for more efficient broadband deployment. The Bureau is now moving forward with an even more ambitious effort to rationalize the rules around tower siting and approvals.

Reform in this area is not a simple exercise of cutting through regulatory red tape. The item circulated by the Bureau is expected to contain a series of straight-forward and sensible reforms consistent with programmatic requirements that will expedite environmental and historic preservation review of new and modified wireless facilities. We also believe the item will provide much needed clarification of certain federal statutes that were enacted to streamline state and local review of wireless infrastructure proposals. We believe that the draft item will propose much needed modernization of FCC regulations that will allow for more efficient and timely small cell deployments. Similarly, we anticipate that the item will permit the collocation of new antennae without additional approvals in certain limited circumstances, for example on rooftops where a visible antenna already exists or within close proximity to an existing antenna array. And we expect the item to clarify certain statutory definitions that create new opportunities for efficient infrastructure builds.