Wireless Internet

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules streamlining the wireless infrastructure siting review process to facilitate the deployment of next-generation wireless facilities. The Order focuses on ensuring the FCC’s rules properly address the differences between large and small wireless facilities, and clarifies the treatment of small cell deployments. Specifically, the Order:

On March 22, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on an order to streamline environmental and historic preservation reviews for 5G facilities deployment. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Raul Ruiz (D-CA) wrote FCC Commissioner Brandan Carr, who is spearheading the FCC proposal, to ask him to reconsider, saying the order will short-circuit safeguards for tribal lands. The proposed order would render the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) toothless when it comes to protecting "tribally-significant" sites.

When Seattle librarians visited the gated cluster of tents and tiny houses that make up Camp Second Chance in White Center, they brought Star Wars comics, Dean Koontz books and Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” for homeless campers to check out. But the most popular item was­n’t a book. It was a Wi-Fi hotspot in a lockbox with a combination.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on a measure which would exempt 5G infrastructure from environmental and historic reviews. And more than a dozen states have passed laws stripping their local governments of any meaningful say on issues relating to where to put the 5G boxes. A smarter approach would bar localities from turning the permitting process into a cash cow, but would give them input on where 5G boxes go and what they should look like. This kind of buy-in might seem burdensome.

Nearly six months have passed since Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the immediate aftermath of the storms, communications networks were virtually wiped out. More than 95% of cell sites were out in Puerto Rico and 77% of cell sites were out in the Virgin Islands. Progress is no doubt being made, with 4.4% and 13.8% of cell sites now out in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, respectively. But there's still much work to do, as too many still lack connectivity and basic infrastructure.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Next Century Cities is pushing back on the FCC's efforts to exempt some wireless deployments from local historic or environmental reviews, saying they are being scapegoated unfairly as impediments to broadband deployment. Three dozen mayors and other elected officials signed the letter defending local decisionmaking in 5G small-cell deployments.

Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether Three and Vodafone, the UK telecoms operators, are “throttling” certain services on their networks in contravention of European Union rules on net neutrality. The investigation could have a profound impact on how telecoms groups across Europe manage traffic, and whether they continue to offer customers unlimited access to certain types of content — such as social media apps or music streaming services — on top of normal data usage restrictions.

Being at the forefront of a new technology often provides a strategic advantage. That helps explain why there is so much scrapping now by companies and countries over a next wave of wireless technology known as 5G.