By Paul Davidson,
USA TODAY
9/9/2004
Federal regulators are set to approve a watershed pact that
would eliminate roadblocks to the construction of many cell phone towers
across the USA, improving coverage for millions of subscribers.
The deal would let proposed towers in many cases bypass an
arduous review designed to protect historic properties. Instead, many towers
could be built near other utilities or on large commercial properties, such
as malls, office parks or large stores, with virtually no federal review.
"This would allow us to get the towers out in a more efficient
manner, so we can provide improved voice quality" and roll out high-speed
Internet services on cell phones, says Cingular Wireless spokesman Clay
Owen.
A majority of the five-member Federal Communications Commission
supports a compromise hammered out in recent days by cellular industry and
historic preservation representatives, three FCC officials told USA TODAY.
The FCC could approve the pact as early as today, the officials
say. It still would need to be signed by the National Conference of State
Historic Preservation Officers and the federal Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation.
Both groups declined comment. But they support the compromise,
the Tower Siting Policy Alliance said in an FCC filing Wednesday. The
alliance, which includes Cingular, T-Mobile and two tower companies, backs
the deal.
Today, cell phone companies wanting to build towers face
grueling reviews by both local zoning boards and the FCC. The FCC and state
historic preservation officials require carriers to identify historic
properties within a mile of a proposed tower. The criteria for such
properties are vague and could include a building that has any historic
significance or is more than 50 years old. Up to 25% of the about 3,500
towers built each year face such reviews.
While most towers are approved, carriers must adjust many others
by lowering or camouflaging them. Some requests are rejected outright.
Reviews can take months or, in rare cases, years.
Under the pact, three years in the making, historic properties
would mean only those eligible for the National Historic Register.
Also, a tower up to 200 feet high could go on a property with
buildings of at least 100,000 square feet, as long as there's a 500-foot
buffer with a historic structure. Most towers are about 175 feet tall. And a
tower could be built next to utility wires or towers as long as it's no
taller than nearby structures and is not next to a historic property.
An earlier proposal that would have permitted towers next to
small commercial buildings was not backed by most FCC commissioners. But
some commissioners argued the FCC has no authority to conduct the reviews at
all.