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I'm kind of torn on this because I can see both sides of it. Some cities charge an insane amount to license a pole, others charge less. Should a small town be a

I'm kind of torn on this because I can see both sides of it. Some cities charge an insane amount to license a pole, others charge less. Should a small town be able to charge a $50,000 per year rent to put up a cell tower? Doesn't seem right, but in a densely packed city where space is tight maybe it makes sense to stop companies from dumping infrastructure. Then there are the time deadlines. Every worked with government that doesn't have a time deadline? For instance ever applied for a permit that has no final issue deadline? They can sit on it for a decade and you can't do anything about it. I don't agree with the FCC, but I also don't think cities should be able to stifle the industry. I don't think there is a great solution on either side.

bcgraham 8y ago
> Should a small town be able to charge a $50,000 per year rent to put up a cell tower? Yes, absolutely! > I don't think cities should be able to stifle the industry. Portland, OR couldn't stifle the industry if it wanted to. Besides that, city governments don't answer to the industry; they answer to their voters.
- Eridrus 8y ago
  > Besides that, city governments don't answer to the industry; they answer to their voters. Do you find your city government to be very responsive to your desires? Maybe it actually is in small towns, but in larger cities, the government basically does whatever it wants on niche issues like this, with no real oversight.
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    If pole fees were high enough that wireless carriers decided not to serve particular areas, such a decision would lead the local nightly news, because wireless company PR is powerful. Voters would be pissed, and the fees would drop.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    > Do you find your city government to be very responsive to your desires? Yes, but only because I hold them accountable with FOIA requests and constant generation of a paper/documentation trail.

bcgraham 8y ago

> Should a small town be able to charge a $50,000 per year rent to put up a cell tower? Yes, absolutely! > I don't think cities should be able to stifle the industry. Portland, OR couldn't stifle the industry if it wanted to. Besides that, city governments don't answer to the industry; they answer to their voters.

Eridrus 8y ago
> Besides that, city governments don't answer to the industry; they answer to their voters. Do you find your city government to be very responsive to your desires? Maybe it actually is in small towns, but in larger cities, the government basically does whatever it wants on niche issues like this, with no real oversight.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  If pole fees were high enough that wireless carriers decided not to serve particular areas, such a decision would lead the local nightly news, because wireless company PR is powerful. Voters would be pissed, and the fees would drop.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  > Do you find your city government to be very responsive to your desires? Yes, but only because I hold them accountable with FOIA requests and constant generation of a paper/documentation trail.