Mayors Adopt Resolutions on Small Cells, In-Kind Contributions
State and national leaders should respect and protect municipal authority when promoting 5G wireless deployment, mayors said in one of two telecom resolutions adopted Monday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting. Some FCC members, Capitol Hill and state lawmakers…
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“have wrongly characterized this balancing act among competing interests for the public rights-of-way and maintenance of local authority as barriers to 5G deployment and, instead, have put the interests of national corporations ahead of the needs of communities and imposing a one-size-fits-all policy which preempts existing state and local policies,” the resolution said. Municipalities should retain local ROW control and get fair market-based compensation, it said. Universal broadband access can’t be achieved through deregulation and pre-emption, it said. Congress should undo the FCC’s 2018 infrastructure orders by passing a bill introduced last week (see 1906270063) by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to undo the August and September orders, and a bill by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., to overturn only the September order (see 1902280046). Mayors sponsoring the resolution included San Jose’s Sam Liccardo, New York’s Bill de Blasio, Los Angeles’ Eric Garcetti and Philadelphia’s Jim Kenney, all Democrats. Mayors adopted a cable resolution about in-kind contributions that opposes “any regulatory proceeding or legislation that seek to alter the terms of existing franchises, including any effort to require that non-financial obligations be subject to offset against franchise fees.” Sponsors included de Blasio, Garcetti and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh (D).