Meredith Baker

[Commentary] The infrastructure needed to support our mobile use needs to be modern and flexible, but does not get the focus it warrants in policy debates. The good news is the Federal Communications Commission is in a position to take critical steps to facilitate smarter and faster deployments.

First , the FCC should limit the ability of state and local authorities to delay the collocation and replacement of wireless infrastructure that have minimal impact on communities.

Second, the FCC should permit the speedy deployment of temporary towers used to respond to local emergencies and newsworthy events and to assist local law enforcement.

Third, the FCC should curtail unnecessary delays at the local level by imposing a 45-day limit on collocation approvals. After all, as Congress recognized, these wireless facilities already have received the necessary zoning approval, so why impose further impediments?

Fourth, the small size and flexible placement of DAS and small cells warrant streamlining the environmental and historic review processes -- the adoption of certain exclusions -- deployment of these facilities.

[Baker is president and CEO of CTIA - The Wireless Association]

[Commentary] Silicon Valley, take note. On August 8, the Federal Communications Commission started regulating mobile apps -- and this government foray into the app space should be of concern to tech entrepreneurs as the debate over how best to ensure the open internet continues.

CTIA-The Wireless Association and its members certainly support text-to-911 solutions, but the expansion of regulatory mandates deeper into the mobile ecosystem should give us all pause.

Digital innovators across the country should take heed of this cautionary tale of expansive FCC regulation. The development should inform all of us in our consideration of the open Internet debate, where we must be wary of the slippery slope of regulatory intrusion into every aspect of the mobile broadband ecosystem -- including apps, software, and other services.

Onerous additional regulations that don’t recognize the technical and operational challenges of mobility would undercut investment and give rise to great uncertainty -- and in the process, hamper innovation.

[Baker is president and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association]