FCC Acts to Ease Deployment of Temporary and Small Cells

The Federal Communications Commission says it plans to streamline procedures related to deployment of temporary cell sites, and will this year also act to clear administrative barriers to building small cell sites and distributed antenna systems as well.

The FCC wants to expedite the placement of "temporary cell towers" such as "Cells on Wheels" (COWs) that can be used during special events, or possibly emergencies.

The FCC also says it will act to expedite the deployment of small cells and distributed antenna systems. 

In the communications business, we sometimes forget that regulatory and legislative bodies enable, or can bar, creation of communications businesses. Financing, entrepreneurial skill and technology also are necessary, as well as clear value for end users. But it all begins with government permission to use spectrum, or to allow entities to enter a market.

Younger observers sometimes forget that it once was illegal for any company but one, in any area, to provide telecommunications services, for example. That barrier became more porous in the 1980s and then became virtually fully open to competition in 1996. 

Still, lots of administrative procedures can raise the cost, and lengthen the time to bring new facilities or services to market, and the FCC wants to reduce some of those obstacles.