It’s always about the Money.

So what about the money…..

Cities can charge $500 for an application for up to five (5) Small Wireless Facilities (SWFs) and $100 for each SWF thereafter in or outside of the ROW. That is artificially low. On the bright side, cities can charge $1,000 for an application for a new pole for a SWF in the ROW. That is more realistic, but still may not recover your costs. What about your permit fees, street cut fees, encroachment permits and street degradation fees? There is a solution, read on…

Before we answer that, how about recurring fees? Well, the FCC magically came up with an annual figure of $270/pole (without any detailed analysis in the September Order) because that is slightly higher than the top end of the range in Small Cell Legislation across roughly 20 states. The problem is that state ranges go from the Federal pole attachment rate to around $250/pole, which still falls short of negotiated rates in many cities around the country ($700-$1,900-$3,000/pole/year). Naturally, the FCC did not explicitly grandfather existing contracts between local governments and providers so those deals are now in peril and in harms way.

So what’s the solution……

The FCC wisely (yes, I’m giving them credit for this one) left the door slightly ajar for cities to do cost studies to justify higher recurring rates and application fees. And we are in the process of finalizing such a Cost Study with a team partner for a city that courageously is willing to stick up for itself. You want to see a thorough, comprehensive and defensible Cost Study that exceeds the application fees and recurring annual rate issued by the FCC, then

Stay tuned…

Cheers and be nice to others!

 – Bob