Draft NPRM on OTA Devices Appears Heading to Unanimous Approval at FCC
An NPRM set for a vote Friday on revised rules for over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) is expected to pass 5-0, industry and FCC officials said. Wireless carrier officials said the rule change is of most interest to and would most help wireless ISPs. The Wireless ISP Association initially sought the rulemaking.
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The FCC lists only four industry filings in docket 19-71 on the NPRM, all by WISPA and before March 22. That was the day the NPRM was circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai.
“Small OTARD reforms can make a big difference for rural broadband,” WISPA President Claude Aiken emailed us Thursday. “We are pleased that the FCC is considering a rulemaking to consider modernizing OTARD rules to bring them up to date with modern deployment practices.”
Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel earlier sought revised rules. “Today OTARD rules do not contemplate 5G deployment and small cells,” she said in September comments on wireless infrastructure rules. “But we could change that by clarifying our rules. If we did, a lot of benefits would follow. By creating more siting options for small cells, we would put competitive pressure on public rights-of-way, which could bring down fees through competition instead of the government ratemaking my colleagues offer here.” The change would “create more opportunities for rural deployment by giving providers more siting and backhaul options and creating new use cases for signal boosters,” she said.
“The wireless infrastructure landscape has ... shifted toward the development of 5G networks and technologies that require dense deployment of smaller antennas across provider networks in locations closer to customers,” says the draft NPRM. “We anticipate that revising the OTARD framework would allow fixed wireless providers to deploy hub and relay antennas more quickly and efficiently and would help spur investment in and deployment of needed infrastructure in a manner that is consistent with the public interest.”