SCF welcomes the news that Hawaii’s governor has approved legislation that will allow the deployment of small cells across the state.

The governor of Hawaii David Ige signed new legislation which will allow the deployment of small cells across the state in a move to support the expansion of next-generation wireless broadband infrastructure, reported RCR Wireless, last week.

“As network traffic increases, keeping ahead of demand is more important than ever. This new law will help establish the deployment of small cells across the state, to support the growth and demand for data,” Governor Ige said. “More importantly, this new law paves the way for Hawaii to lead the nation in providing citizens with greater broadband connectivity, infrastructure investment, and bringing in the next generation of broadband.” [Source – RCR Wireless]

The new legislation takes effect on Monday (July 1). And the governor believes this will make Hawaii a nationwide leader in developing small cell wireless infrastructure, that will deliver economic growth in the country.

American legislation and standards for small cell deployments has been something SCF has been driving forward over the last few years. Following the excellent outcome from our first partners day in Atlanta last year, our proposals and member input helped to inform new FCC regulations that ease installation of small cells in the US.

In Hawaii the new law establishes a permitting, application, review, and approval process for small wireless providers or communications service providers to install wireless facilities on state or county solely-owned utility poles, or install associated utility poles, in the right of way.

We are keen to watch how this unfolds and see how many other US states follow suit.

You can download our Atlanta Partners Day report here