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The California Clip-ons are Here! No Permits & No Licenses (And
They'll Usually Go On Public Property) Kreines & Kreines, Inc. has been showing its clients photographs and working drawings of Pacific Bell microcells that get attached to telephone poles on a fill-in (infill) basis. Now comes Sprint, Pacific Bell's primary PCS competitor in California, with 6,000 cell sites to be deployed in only two counties: Orange and Los Angeles. A highly reliable source, who insists on anonymity, has seen the dictionary-sized units that will go up on a utility pole, usually in the public right-of-way. Will Sprint sign a lease with the right-of-way owner? Will Sprint seek permits from the local governments for these sites? Will Sprint pay the local government a right-of-way management or encroachment fee? The answer to these questions may be "no." How do they do that? Sprint is relying on a Southern California entity called the Joint Pole Committee to authorize the attachment of these personal wireless service facilities to existing utility poles. If the JPC (consisting of telephone, electric and other pole-mounted providers) authorizes the placement, it's "all systems go." The first thing a local government will know of it will be, when cruising down a local street, someone says "what's that thing hanging up there?" Local governments are mixed in their reactions to this trend: · Some cities and counties don't care because it's one less headache for them. · Other jurisdictions are saying "Wait a minute. That's our right-of-way. And cell sites, no matter how small, need permits." Kreines & Kreines, Inc. has one client city that is so traumatized by the possibility of pole mounts on every block, they've decided to do nothing for the time being. It's better, some local governments reason, to wait until the trend is "discovered" by an irate citizen than to borrow trouble in advance. We at PlanWireless think cities and counties should plan for the inevitable so, when it occurs, a smooth transition for both the public and private sectors is possible. There's revenue at stake for cities and counties … lot's of it. Call us if your community is proactive. |
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