1. Bob Duchen – Vice President
NORTH DAKOTA LEAGUE OF CITIES ZONING ORDINANCES AND TELECOM PROVIDERS CAN WE ALL GET ALONG? River Oaks Communications Corporation
Bob Duchen – Vice President
September 15, 2018
Copyright © 2018 by River Oaks Communications Corporation. All rights reserved.
Larimer County

2. River Oaks Communications Corporation
What Are Small Cells?
They are bigger than you think – for example, 28 cubic feet.
They often involve poles, antennas, transmission equipment, power and fiber optic cables.
They do not always include stealth features.
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6. Why pay attention to this potential situation?
The Industry has moved from constructing cell towers to small cells that add capacity to their networks with backhaul.
Public Rights-of-Way are prime candidates because they cover vast areas within cities
Coverage is limited from 300 to 900 feet
The equipment can be unsightly or camouflaged using stealth technology
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7. Why you should pay attention to small cells?
Providers typically do not share small cell equipment- this means that you will have multiple providers on a single pole or requests for new or replacement poles
The equipment needs to meet all safety requirements
You will be facing multiple site requests in a single application- this is called “Batching”
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12. Bio on River Oaks Communications Corporation
Colorado Based
30 Years of Experience
38 States including North Dakota
Hundreds of Local Governments
Bob Duchen- VP, Co-founder, University of Virginia School of Law
Author and Webinar Presenter
Expert Testimony
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13. Overview of Federal Law
Cable Acts of 1984 and 1992
Telecom Act of 1996
Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012
FCC Wireless Order- October 2014
Beware of Federal or State preemption
FCC’ s upcoming Ruling and Order
New Congressional Legislation Introduced
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STREAMLINE ACT
Co-sponsored by Senator Thune of South Dakota
Intended to accelerate broadband deployment
Shortens timeframes for Local Government actions and decisions
Caps compensation payable to Local Governments by the providers
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15. BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Appointed by the FCC
Acronym is BDAC
Heavily weighted with industry representatives
Developed a model State Ordinance and model Local Ordinance
Unfavorable for Local Governments
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The Latest from the FCC
Fees for use of municipal structures within the rights of way—that are greater than a reasonable approximation of the local government’s costs for processing applications and for managing deployments in the rights-of-way are effective prohibitions under Federal law
                 
                                                        
                                                           
                                                          
Concerns of Local Governments Include:
Aesthetics
Compensation for Government Sites
Health – RF Emissions – (Federal Regulations)
Impact on Real Estate Values
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Larimer County

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Safe Harbors
$500 application fee (for 5 small wireless facilities plus $100 for each additional small wireless facility)
$270 /year for each site- limit on ROW access fee and attachment fee
And if you want more:
Show the reasonable approximation of costs, the cost is reasonable and non-discriminatory (the burden is on your City)
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Small Cells
Nationwide deployment occurring- Projection of 800,000 small cells in next decade
Explosive Growth and Capacity Issues; This Differs From Coverage Issues
Aesthetics- new requirements coming – not preempted if reasonable, no more burdensome as compared with other infrastructure deployments and published in advance
Current Zoning Ordinances- Outdated, Inadequate and Putting Cities At Risk
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Larimer County

19. FCC Order and Prior Rulings
The Latest Timeframes:
60 Day Shot Clock for Section 6409(a) Eligible Facilities Requests
Non-small wireless facilities:
90-Day Shot Clock for Section 332c(7) - Other Collocation Applications
150-Day Shot Clock for Other Requests (New Tower Site)
What’s next- 60 days for small cells placed on existing structures/ 90 days for new builds and presumptive prohibitions
State Law Can Still Come into Play
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Larimer County

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What is a Tower?
A tower could be everything from a flagpole to a monopine to a traditional tower. The key is that its primary purpose must be to support antennas and related facilities.
• A tower is “Any structure built for the sole or primary purpose of supporting any Commission-licensed or authorized antennas and their associated facilities.”
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Larimer County

21. River Oaks Communications Corporation
What is a Base Station? Generally, this is the equipment that you will find at the base of the tower.
The FCC has defined Base Station as “A structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables Commission-licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network.”
Translation: The transmission equipment and any non-tower structure that supports transmission equipment per a permit or other authorization that enables wireless use.
River Oaks Communications Corporation
Larimer County

22. Who has the Risk/Liability?
What if a vehicle hits a base station?
What is in the base stations- do they contain batteries or cooling fans?
Can towers collapse?
Will the poles be structurally engineered to handle the weight of new small cell facilities?
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Larimer County

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24. Where will you see Small Cells?
In metropolitan areas because they are needed to handle high volumes of data traffic
Not as likely in rural North Dakota.
Fiber is needed to make rural Broadband accessible and affordable
5G Technology has a ways to go
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Larimer County

25. Realities of the Situation
Small communities do not have sufficient staff with the expertise or time to handle site applications- Shot clock pressures
Multiple small cells on 1 pole- Very unattractive
Cities will need to hire outside RF and legal experts- at whose expense?
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Larimer County

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Moratorium
Generally disallowed by a recent FCC Order
This covers actual and de facto moratoria
Providers will strongly protest.
Could lead to Litigation.
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Larimer County

27. Service Providers and Infrastructure Providers
Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile
Extenet and Crown Castle
Mobilitie
Site Acquisition Companies
New Players in the Marketplace
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28. Cody, Wyoming- How They Handled It
Reviewed existing Wireless Communication Facilities Regulations
Approached by Mobilitie
Updated their WCF Regulations to Provide For DAS and Small Cells, Collocation, Tower Siting Preferences and Processes for use of Municipal Rights-of-Way
Third-Party Technical Reviews
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29. Some Examples from Other States
Spokane, Washington
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Sheridan, Gillette and Casper, Wyoming
Las Cruces, New Mexico
League of Nebraska Municipalities, Michigan Municipal League and South Dakota Municipal League
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30. Illustrative Pictures
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31. Illustrative Pictures
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32. Illustrative Pictures of WCFs
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33. Illustrative Pictures of WCFs
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34. Illustrative Pictures of WCFs
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35. Illustrative Pictures of WCFs
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36. Illustrative Pictures of WCFs
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37. Illustrative Pictures of WCFs
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38. Revenue Opportunities for Local Governments
Water Tanks, Towers, Buildings and Fiber (Vertical and Horizontal Assets)
Small cells in Rights-of-Way- capped by state legislation generally ranging from $50-$250/year per site
Individual Agreements range from $150-$1900/year or more per site
Large Antennas on Water Tanks- $750-$2500/month or more- not in ROW
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Some Extreme Examples
Howard County, MD- nonrecurring fees of $10,000 upon execution of an agreement and $1,800 per permit and annual recurring fees of $25,000 for ROW rights and $1,000 per node.
Montgomery County, MD- 5% of gross revenues or such other amount set by County law.
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Some Extreme Examples
Baltimore City, MD- annual recurring fees of up to $5,000 per pole.
Oakland, CA- $2,300 per node.
Lowell, MA- nonrecurring fee of $20,000 and an annual recurring fee of $6,000.
Industry thinks cities are trying to help balance their budgets by overcharging the providers
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41. How do Cities Protect Themselves?
Review Current Ordinances
Draft and Develop new Zoning Ordinances for Wireless Communication Facilities
Stay in Touch with NDLC for New Developments at the State and Federal Level
Communicate with One Another- You have Similar Challenges and Opportunities
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THANKS
For Hanging in there for our Presentation.
If you have specific factual questions later on, please call us or send us an .
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Larimer County