Small Cell Siting Right-of-Way Relief Advocates Petition the FCC

Nearly 130 comments have rolled into the FCC so far about Mobilitie’s request for a ruling on small cell siting, according to an examination of the records by Inside Towers. Mobilitie specifically sought relief from “excessive charges” for access to public rights-of-way. The agency widened its request for public input beyond the petition and invited comments more broadly about how to ease small cell siting, noting that “It is our responsibility to ensure that this deployment of network facilities does not become subject to delay caused by unnecessarily time-consuming and costly siting review processes that may be in conflict with the Communications Act.”

Municipalities are being deluged with requests; for example, Montgomery County, Maryland has approximately 200 pending applications, and tells the FCC it “has had more applications filed in the past four months than in the past 18 years.” The Commission is developing a record to help it decide whether and to what extent local land-use authorities’ review of siting applications is hindering, or is likely to hinder, the deployment of wireless infrastructure.  Continue Reading