Siting on Federal Lands Seen as FCC's Likely Next Big Infrastructure Focus

The administration released a report on infrastructure on federal lands last week (see 1902130067), but rather than wireless experts, most who worked on it were contracting officers and government officials who understand property values, industry officials said. As a result the report focused on some narrow issues like how to update a portal on federal facility locations, officials said.

The FCC is likely to focus on issues like how to give carriers more certainty on renewal of federal tower collocations agreements, said a lawyer who works on infrastructure issues. “The actual tenets … that go along with the buildout are unpredictable,” the lawyer said: “What happens if there are three years remaining on the lease and we’re still far apart on terms? The process isn’t there.”

Carr hinted that infrastructure on federal lands would be a focus during a recent speech at a National Association of Tower Erectors conference (see 1902050035), industry officials said. “We will look to fully and faithfully implement the decisions Congress has made to streamline the deployment of next-generation technologies,” Carr said. “We will push the government to be more pro-infrastructure by eliminating needless restrictions on siting wireless facilities.” The FCC didn't comment.

Working with the federal government can be difficult, said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield, a member of the BDAC federal lands working group. “Some of the work that was actually done last year will hopefully come to light,” she said. “Everybody could agree to a common sense approach. … Anything that this administration can do to move the ball forward is a good thing.”

“This focus on the federal permitting process is really important,” Bloomfield said, as is “coordination of efforts between the federal and the state broadband programs.” The U.S. also needs better broadband mapping data to figure out where service is and isn't available, she said.

“The FCC has shown critical leadership to improve siting on federal lands that has already had a positive impact,” said Jonathan Adelstein, president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association. It “has focused effectively on removing obstacles to deployment in every venue, including federal lands, which are historically the most difficult on which to site wireless infrastructure. The FCC is on top of what makes for swift deployment, and it is makes perfect sense for the administration to leverage this expertise.”

Important to Rural Providers

Siting on federal lands is “particularly important” to rural carriers, said Steve Berry, president of the Competitive Carriers Association. “Competitive carriers care about and want to provide robust service to federal lands in their networks, and these carriers must have certainty as they work through the approval process, and not be burdened with unnecessary costs and delays,” he said. New macro towers on federal lands are important to expanding coverage and 5G, he said: “The FCC should continue efforts to streamline all deployments, including macrocells, not only for the benefit of carriers and consumers, but also to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in the race to 5G.”

"At first glance, one would think that dealing with one entity -- the federal government -- about federal lands issues would be easy,” said former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley. “But federal lands matters involve myriad federal agencies and statutes. The FCC can certainly make things somewhat easier, but expectations should be modest."

Every administration makes an attempt at speeding federal siting “and it always remains a tough issue,” said Doug Brake, director-broadband and spectrum policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “It is just really difficult to get different agencies all rowing in the same direction, especially on an issue like broadband that is outside their wheelhouse.” But Brake sees real opportunities. “With the prod of the president’s memorandum from last year, [the Interior Department] seems to be making real progress, but the hard work of one-stop permitting and common applications is yet to come,” he said.

Recycling Ideas?

Blair Levin, the architect of the FCC’s 2010 National Broadband Plan, said last week’s report doesn’t advance policy much beyond what was done during the Obama administration. “If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I am extremely flattered,” Levin said. “As other countries have shown, periodic updating is a good idea. The problems we looked at nine years ago have changed in some important ways. I hope they enable public -- and not just industry -- input to better understand the issues.”

An NTIA official responded that last week’s report reflected the work of more than 20 agencies. It included “flow-charts reflecting current permitting workflows for the most common asset types providing a single location for information on Federal permitting of broadband infrastructure” and a new Department of Agriculture broadband pilot program, the official said.

BDAC Chair Elizabeth Bowles told us she hasn’t been briefed on the FCC’s plans. Starting with federal lands wouldn’t surprise Andy Huckaba, a BDAC member and Lenexa, Kansas, council member. It was a big focus in the Trump administration’s recent federal lands report, noted Huckaba, who said he’s not returning to the committee.

The FCC probably will announce BDAC appointments soon as names of BDAC members who plan to stay on were resubmitted, said the Georgia Municipal Association’s Larry Hanson, who was renominated to the body. Hanson and David Young, an official from Lincoln, Nebraska, said they hadn’t heard about the BDAC’s next focus.