FCC To Give Telecom Companies $3 Billion-A-Year For 5G Phone Rollout

And You’re Paying for It; Corporate Welfare Plan Cuts by 90% What Local Governments Can Charge for Access to Utility Poles

The Trump administration, which proposed tripling housing costs for low-income renters, is slashing by 90% or more the utility pole rents paid to local governments by Verizon, AT&T and other cell phone providers. The rent cut for these corporations is worth about $3 billion annually, the National League of Cities estimates.

Utility pole rents will be capped at $270 per pole each year by new Federal Communications Commission rules.

Rents per utility pole are typically $2,400 a year, nine times the FCC cap, said Tony Batalla, IT manager for the city of San Leandro, Calif., a city of 89,000 people across the bay from San Francisco. “These are negotiated rates the companies agreed to,” he noted.

The FCC also imposed a 30-day deadline on every municipality in America to comply, even though the law in many states legally impossible for many cities to change their municipal codes in less than 45 days because of rules requiring public hearings before a new ordinance can be adopted.

“This may become a full employment act for lawyers,” said Angelina Panettieri, principal associate for information, technology and communications for the National League of Cities. The new rules may also prompt many cities with tight budgets to just roll over and give the cellular telephone companies whatever they demand rather than spend taxpayer funds on litigation.

Charging any rent will require extensive and expensive documentation by local governments under the new FCC rule, which was published Sept. 14 and takes effect Oct. 15.

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https://www.dcreport.org/2018/09/25/fcc-to-give-telecom-companies-3-billion-a-year-for-5g-phone-rollout/