Anytime Republicans, or Republican administrations or dirty rotten rich corporations talk about ‘too much regulation’ that is code for ‘I pay too much in taxes and these environmentalists are getting in the way of me making even more money’. Or something like that.
I will agree, some regulations are silly and weird, but some are put in place to make us live happier lives without letting the corporate wolves control what we eat, see or do.
It seems the 5G Network doesn’t have some fans;
The order will go into effect 90 days after publication of the final version in the Federal Register. As previously reported on CitiesSpeak, the order will:
- Shorten the time cities have to process applications for small cells to either 60 or 90 days, depending on whether they are being mounted on an existing or new structure;
- Limit application fees for small cells to $100 per site, and recurring fees to $270 per site, per year, for small cells in the rights-of-way;
- Prohibit cities from assessing fees that include anything other than a “reasonable approximation†of “reasonable costs†directly related to maintaining the rights-of-way and the small cell facility; and
- Limit aesthetic review and requirements (including undergrounding and historic/environmental requirements) to those that are reasonable, comparable to requirements for other rights-of-way users, and published in advance.
NLC, along with its local government partners, has fought this preemption order through comments to the FCC and advocacy on Capitol Hill, and will continue the fight in all three branches of the federal government. The final text of the order was released September 27 and is substantially similar to the draft, with one noteworthy change: if cities notify wireless providers that applications are incomplete, they will be able to restart, rather than toll, the shot clock for that specific application.
While I see some benefits to 5G, there is also some drawbacks. And the promoters don’t want to talk about it.