Remarks Of Chairman Ajit Pai At The National Association Of Tower Erectors Annual Conference

I’m constantly meeting with the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) and its members for a very practical reason. Actually, make that two practical reasons: One is the race to 5G and the other is the broadcaster repack stemming from the FCC's incentive auction. [In regards to 5G, we] reformed our historic preservation and environmental regulations so that small cells don’t have to jump through the same regulatory hoops as 200-foot towers. As a result of the incentive auction, roughly half of our nation’s broadcast TV stations will be changing their transmission frequencies to clear part of the spectrum for wireless use. Successfully completing the repack on schedule will require continued coordination between tower companies, equipment manufacturers, broadcasters, and government officials. We’re working to make sure that stations are on pace to move by their phase
completion dates, to address transition issues that come up, and to help stations as appropriate and when doing so wouldn’t impact other repack stations.