Access to broadband connectivity is critical for cities, towns, enabling their communities to work, learn, and engage in society. Small cells can provide and improve broadband access and coverage. However, regulatory processes in many municipalities remain lengthy, complex, and costly.
To help municipalities/local authorities support timely deployment of small cells, SCF has published a white paper on steps municipalities/local authorities can take to streamline the permitting process, promote policies for speedy deployments, and bring cellular connectivity and broadband services to their communities.
This Regulatory Guidance highlights the benefits small cells afford, including ease of deployment and maintenance, health and safety safeguards, energy and environmental sustainability, and reduced clutter from shared infrastructure. To help expedite deployment of small cells, SCF provides a series of steps, policies, and resources to help facilitate the rapid rollout of small cell networks and address the needs and concerns of municipalities/local authorities.
These recommendations include:
- Establishing a single point of contact to work across departments to ensure alignment to support deployment.
- Providing necessary support and resources.
- Enabling access to existing structures for installation.
- Pursuing power and service alternatives to mitigate cost of installing new connections.
- Streamlining planning/zoning processes.
- Supporting a lowering of the tax and fee burden.
- Developing innovative business models involving public-private partnerships.
- Promoting use of value-funded sites.
In addition to promoting streamlined policies and processes, SCF is also well positioned to provide technical consultation and support to municipalities/local authorities on small cell technology, deployment and operations, upon request.
Download the digital transformation for municipalities white paper here: https://scf.io/en/documents/240_Digital_transformation_for_municipalities.php