I had the pleasure of speaking at the first annual Wireless West Conference in Anaheim, CA on April 20. Wireless West was organized and managed by five state wireless associations—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Northwest (which incorporates Oregon and Washington). 400 attendees sold out the event.
My panel was titled “Section 6409 vs. Reality” and we discussed experience in the application of Section 6409, the federal legislation that pre-empts local zoning of collocation of antennas and equipment on existing wireless sites under implementing rules of the Federal Communications Commission. Our panel concluded that 6409 has broadly improved local action on collocation requests, but some jurisdictions are still evaluating the statute and its impact on their processes. The panel noted that there are some instances where the detailed regulations adopted by the FCC are proving confusing for local governments.
Section 6409 became law in 2012 after a legislative campaign conducted by PCIA – The Wireless Infrastructure Association while I was the CEO of that association. The legislation was enacted because Congress decided that collocation was in the best interests of all parties. It enables existing wireless sites to serve more carriers and their customers. That has obvious economic benefit to the businesses involved and also alleviates some of the pressure on local governments to authorize more and more sites, which can be locally controversial.
Based on the success of this initial conference, Wireless West likely will be an annual event that we expect to grow in size and impact.