How to Prohibit Unnecessary 4G & 5G Cell Towers In Your City

Check your city broadband services at BroadbandNow.com. If your city already offers DSL, Cable, or Fiber Optic broadband, then there is no need for additional 4G or 5G wireless broadband, your city already has it!

Key Definitions:

1. 1G, 2G, flip phones, old school wired phone, dial up, copper pair wire = basic phone or “telecommunications services” this is regulated by the FCC & 1996 Telecommunications Act.

2. 4G, 5G, DSL, Cable, Fast Internet Speeds, Sparklight, Century Link, Comcast = broadband or “Information Services” this is NOT regulated by the FCC & 1996 Telecommunications Act

Verizon, T-mobile, AT&T have two products for sale.

1. Basic 1G & 2G phone service “telecommunications services”

2. 4G & 5G high speed broadband “Information Services”

Your City Has Two Choices For Required Broadband Service

1. Wireless 4G & 5G broadband

2. Wired DSL, Cable, Fiber-optic broadband

• The huge misconception is that they are packaged together. Because basic 1G & 2G cell serves is regulated by the FCC and the 1996 Telecommunications Act “tying the hands of local government” somehow implies our hands are tied when it comes to selecting a broadband service for our city. This is not true! If you don’t want 4G & 5G cell towers in your neighborhood here’s the solution.

Solution

Choose DSL, Cable & Fiber-optic broadband NOT Wireless 4G & 5G broadband!

Here is how it is accomplished. Add two items to your cities wireless zoning ordinance:

1. A Purpose Statement that your city prefers wired broadband over wireless broadband.

2. Prohibit small and macro cell towers in residential and school zones.

3. Require cell tower contractors to carry insurance that covers injuries from RF radiation

4. Require “NEED Test” that there must be a Significant Gap in coverage in basic 1G & 2G phone “Information Service” before approving new Wireless Facility/ Small Cell / Cell Tower/ WTFs / sWTF applications. It is that simple!

Here’s Another Way To Look At It

Broadband wireless falls under Title I “unregulated” by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Your local city officials have 100% control over its broadband Infrastructure policies. The 1996 Telecommunications Act and the FCC only regulate Basic phone and texting wireless service. This HUGE News!!!! If you have one bar of basic cell service then there is no need for more 4G or 5G cell towers in your city or town.

Verizon, T-Mobile & AT&T want to make a ton of money collection your data. There is a reason they are spending $ millions on TV advertising. Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Make sure to share this with your friends & family and local City Council. You can stop the mass rollout of wireless broadband in your town.

The Law

Quoting from Judge Millett’s Ruling in Case No. 18-1051, Mozilla et al. v FCC

” The 1996 Telecommunications Act creates two potential classifications for broadband Internet: ‘telecommunications services’ under Title II of the Act and ‘information services’ under Title I.

• Title II [telecommunications service] entails common carrier status, see 47 U.S.C. § 153(51) (defining “telecommunications carrier”), and triggers an array of statutory restrictions and requirements

• Title I “information services” are exempted from common carriage status and, hence, Title II regulation.

The judge’s discussion then continues onto mobile service, showing that the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order, 33 FCC Rcd. 311 (“2018 Order”) classified broadband Internet as an “information service,” see 2018 Order ¶¶ 26–64, and mobile broadband as a “private mobile service,” see id. ¶¶ 65–85 . . . therefore the only wireless service that remains as regulated Title II is wireless phone call service.

• A “commercial mobile service” is [regulated Title II] and subject to common carrier status, see 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(1)

  • From 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7)(C)(i):

• “Personal wireless services” means commercial mobile services, unlicensed wireless services, and common carrier wireless exchange access services;

• A “private mobile service” [is unregulated Title I] and is not subject to common carrier status.

That’s right. As of Oct 1, 2019, the FCC now regulates only phone calls. That means in mobile service, FCC now regulates only wireless phone calls.

The fact that in mobile service, the FCC now only regulates wireless phone calls is very germane to the City of Petaluma’s Planning Commissioners