New York City Official Questions Value of BDAC's Remaining Work
Miguel Gamiño, New York City chief technology officer who last week resigned from a Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee working group, told us he questions the integrity of the group in light of his and other defections. Other officials said at the Wireless Connect event (see 1804040042) Wednesday that they are hopeful FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will appoint more local representatives to the group. BDAC officials said the organization's work could continue into next year, possibly with new local government officials to replace those who resigned (see 1804030066).
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“We have been concerned about the lack of municipal representation on the BDAC since day one,” Gamiño said. “The committee will not be able to meaningfully address broadband deployment for the people of our cities in its recommendations without ensuring the appropriate representation on the BDAC.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told us it remains to be seen whether BDAC will have a role beyond preparing its initial reports. “BDAC cuts across a lot of different issues -- the wireline side, the wireless side,” Carr said. “I’m interested in seeing the product at their next meeting and beyond that we’ll see.”
Rikin Thakker, who represents the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council on BDAC, said at the conference deployment of 5G has to benefit minority communities as well as mid- and small-sized business. “The local governments need to stay” on BDAC “so they can raise their issues,” said Thakker, also a lecturer in the telecom program at the University of Maryland, where the event was held.
BDAC member Jonathan Adelstein, president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, told us he's disappointed at the resignations. “The dialogue was a productive one,” he said. “We managed to get a unanimous report out of my federal lands working group.” If local governments and state governments don’t buy in to municipal and state codes set for a vote at the April 25 BDAC meeting, there will be little change, he said. “That municipalities haven’t engaged to the end is going to undermine our ability to get [the codes] successfully implemented,” he said. “I can’t really argue against that.”
“For this to work, we have to have a good working partnership,” Adelstein said. “We’ve built a wireless network that’s the envy of the world and all of it has been done with local approvals.”
Douglas Dimitroff, chair of the BDAC Model Codes for Municipalities Working Group, told us he hopes Pai will appoint more local members to the group. Dimitroff called it “unfortunate” some local officials resigned. “We’ve had lots of robust discussions on issues that are not easy ones” and members have met on a weekly basis since last May, he said. Dimitroff, lawyer at Phillips Lytle, represents the New York State Wireless Association. BDAC is making progress “in terms of figuring out where the issues are and how in many ways things can be eased,” he said. Asked if the municipal code will be ready for the April meeting, he said: “That is what we are working hard to do.”
The FCC can prevent problems by properly characterizing what BDAC has become, emailed Steve Blum, president of Tellus Venture Associates. “If BDAC ends up being an industry committee that advises the FCC on federal policy matters, then I think it has a proper role to play,” Blum said. “There's nothing out of the ordinary about industry representatives making their case to federal agencies via a formal process. But it shouldn't be characterized as some sort of neutral body that's bringing all interested parties to the table.”