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FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Nokia Head of Policy and Government Relations Brian Hendricks joined the TIA’s Dileep Srihari to discuss the future of 5G, connectivity, small cells, and more.

Arlington, VA (April 18, 2018) – The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, last week held a discussion with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Nokia Head of Policy and Government Relations for the Americas Region Brian Hendricks about the deployment of 5G, the ramifications of land use on broadband infrastructure, and FCC actions to improve deployment and connectivity.  The conversation titled, How does the U.S. get to 5G? FCC and Industry Weigh-In is featured on TIA’s “DC BEAT” Policy Podcast.

Both experts noted that localities should be able to have access to a sophisticated wireless infrastructure and agreed that there needs to be a greater understanding in localities throughout the country of the importance of 5G deployment and wireless infrastructure. Commissioner Carr and Hendricks made a strong case for addressing state and local regulations that hinder widespread 5G deployment.

“I want to see small cells and 5G as ubiquitously as possible… A big part of why the economics don’t work in communities is because of this federal, state and local red tape,” said Commissioner Carr. “A big piece of deploying 5G is making sure state and local laws recognize what is unique about small cells from a business case and from a deployment space and finding a way to move on from there.”

“Land use in the United States should not be a variable that determines who gets broadband and right now, it is,” said Hendricks.  “If you take a look at an average small cell price of about $5,000, cutting $241 million of unnecessary regulatory expenses means about 50,000 more small cells are available for deployment.”

Throughout the podcast, Commissioner Carr referenced how the FCC is working towards creating a more connected nation through different legislative actions. “We [the FCC] adopted an order that I think is going to be a really popular one last month,” said Carr.  “It reformed the federal approach to environmental review and historic review both for small cells, which is going to be a big piece of 5G.”

More insight from Commissioner Carr and Hendricks can be found on the full episode of TIA’s “DC BEAT” podcast, How does the U.S. get to 5G? FCC and Industry Weigh-In, which can be heard in its entirety on the TIA website: https://bit.ly/2GWFXgb or wherever else you get your podcasts.