Cities Call Wireless Shot Clock a Failure
The FCC’s “shot clock” proceeding “has been a dismal failure,” telco lawyer Jonathan Kramer told the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors conference in Washington Thursday. The so-called “shot clock” limited the time communities could spend reviewing mobile tower applications. “It just has not, in my opinion, served the public or the carriers,” he said. Kramer was responding to angry questions from NATOA attendees who wanted to know why, if communities had allegedly been stalling on mobile companies’ applications, there had been no further litigation since the shot clock idea was approved last year.
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But the shot clock rules have helped NextG Networks do business, said Patrick Ryan, vice president for regulatory affairs. “From our experience -- and this is purely anecdotal -- municipalities are stepping up,” he said. “Sites that are denied, are denied quicker. It’s a good thing when municipalities and the industry work together and don’t sue each other. I think it’s been very effective.”
At least three questioners cited the claim that some 30,000 applications had been stalled before shot clock took effect. The panelists -- including T-Mobile Senior Manager for External Affairs Steve Caplan, PCIA President Michael Fitch, and Moss & Barnett shareholder Brian Grogan -- demurred on the 30,000 figure.
Caplan said the shot clock was “an extraordinary” rule that his company would use for “egregious situations” but he hoped cities would take a more collaborative approach. “It’s a particular rule designed to improve the siting process and both government and industry need to work together to improve it,” he said. Fitch said he wasn’t sure that the shot clock has been effective: “We are concerned about undue delays. We do see a lot of them. … Our concern, frankly, about shot clock is that while deadlines are a good and useful thing, we're seeing cities are inventing new ways to avoid shot clock.”