Mayors Ask California Governor to Veto Small-Cells/5G Bill

Mayors of five major California cities asked Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to veto small-cells legislation that seeks to promote 5G deployment by pre-empting local authority on wireless siting (see 1709150030). The letter was signed by the mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Oakland and San Jose. “This bill subsidizes the private sector with below-market rates for the usage of public assets paid for by city residents,” the mayors said. “Telecom carriers are estimated to make a 30-40 percent profit margin. Additionally, small cell deployment will lower costs by 12-57 percent for these carriers. The public should not further subsidize these businesses at the expense of fair compensation to the public.”