BDAC Approves First Recommendations, but Disagreements Surface

The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee approved six sets of recommendations for speeding deployment of wireless and wireline infrastructure Thursday, but disagreements surfaced, especially from the local government officials appointed to the group. The FCC posted the documents for the committee, which meets again in January to finalize recommendations.

In a morning session, local government officials opposed the preamble and framework for a state model code. Kelly McGriff of Southern Light, chair of the working group on the code, said there's disagreement on other parts of the working group’s work set to be final in January. Many questions have arisen since commission Chairman Ajit Pai appointed BDAC members over whether industry is disproportionately represented (see 1706010054).

“We don't have unanimous consent ... and I don't anticipate that we will, and that’s fine,” McGriff said. “What we hope we will be able to provide you in January will be something that a majority of our members have approved.” Other provisions may be added, plus other topics and sections, and some parts may be removed, McGriff said. Two BDAC members later voted no and two abstained on a one-page set of guiding principles for a model code for municipalities. The committee is to take up the code itself in January.

Dissents from cities are a sign of problems to come, said Christopher Yoo, a member and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. “There are real differences,” Yoo said. “The idea of winning a round here, in my opinion, is pointless.” The panel needs to create a platform where differences are in the open so policymakers understand, Yoo said. “If we actually make mature decisions to the point where the decision points are laid out, we will be better off.”

The internet isn't a “naturally ubiquitous thing that magically connects us to anyone and anything,” Pai told members. “The internet is cable and conduit and cellsites and antennas. It's physical infrastructure." That reality was home to him earlier in the week when he went to Puerto Rico to see the damage from Hurricane Maria (see 1711090020), Pai said.

“The devastation there was truly beyond anything I've ever seen,” Pai said. “I was in Houston post-Harvey and Florida post-Irma. Those were bad situations, but Puerto Rico is an order of magnitude worse.” Towers were down, fiber destroyed and neighborhoods dark after sunset because power was out, he said. “I just saw a lot that I hadn’t seen before.” He acknowledged that restoring communications there will be a hard job, especially with electricity lines down. There’s a lesson, Pai said. “Building these physical networks is hard, it’s a challenge, and government shouldn’t make that task more difficult.”

Pai sent a letter to Chair Elizabeth Bowles scheduling a two-day meeting of the group Jan. 23 and 24. That “gives the BDAC additional time to reach the right solutions on its model codes and in other key areas, as well as an extra day of deliberations to finalize its recommendations and report,” the letter said.

“By January, we will have gone a long way toward fulfilling the charter we were given by Chairman Pai and I am very much looking forward to the next few months of work,” Bowles said.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn urged members to pay close attention or concerns of local, state and tribal governments. Clyburn said all broadband problems aren't infrastructure. “There are many who do not understand or are unable to embrace technology as well as you and me,” she said. “They may need additional help with navigating the digital currents and, as I have often said, ‘build it and they will come’ is no more than a field of dreams, particularly for low-income communities, if they cannot afford the service.”

On infrastructure on federal lands, BDAC approved recommendations by its Streamlining Federal Siting group, including a 60-day shot clock for application review, with a deemed approved remedy, and a 10-day shot clock for notification of additional materials request. Applicants to build infrastructure on federal lands face “varying and unpredictable fees and rates,” “cumbersome” historic and environmental review processes, and lease and renewal terms that often don’t encourage investment, the group said.

Jonathan Adelstein, chairman of federal lands working group and president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, said he pressed for a vote on the report Thursday because federal siting issues have been a huge impediment. “We can't continue to allow applications to languish for years without remedy and that's what we are seeing right now,” he said. “We have examples in our report that show applications have been pending for many, many years.” Adelstein cited problems building infrastructure across DOD-controlled land. Defense “of course has national security interests to protect,” but military personnel and their families living at DOD facilities have the same need for access to broadband as everyone else, he said.