UTC Board Approves Resolutions on Broadband, Spectrum, Collocation
The UTC Board of Directors on Aug. 24 approved a slate of resolutions setting the Association’s policy priorities for the rest of the year.
[NOTE: If you missed any of our first-ever virtual Telecom & Technology Annual Conference, all the sessions are archived and will be online for the next several months.
You can access the content here: www.utctelecom.org and follow the links to the virtual event. In addition, should you require continuing educational credits, you can find the paperwork necessary in Networks.
Please let us know if you have any trouble.]
Traditionally UTC resolutions are approved by core utility members during the Membership Meeting at the annual Telecom & Technology conference. Because this year’s conference was postponed from May to August and held virtually, the UTC Board of Directors exercised its authority under UTC’s resolutions process to vote on the resolutions in lieu of the membership.
The resolutions are available on the UTC website:
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- In this resolution, UTC:
- Urges the FCC to encourage voluntary, market-based agreements between electric utilities and wireless providers as the best and proven means for deploying 5G and small-cellular services throughout the country;
- Opposes the CTIA petition to impose the current regulatory scheme applicable to attachments to electric distribution poles on streetlight colocation, which would frustrate and delay 5G Infrastructure deployment
- Encourages the FCC to not only deny the CTIA petition (relating to streetlights), but also should consider revisiting its existing regulations which inhibit the deployment of wireless facilities on electric distribution poles; and,
- Encourages its members to develop and implement innovative and mutually beneficial streetlight colocation programs in order to help win the Race to 5G.
- In this resolution, UTC:
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- In this resolution, UTC:
- Supports and encourages the federal government’s funding opportunities to expand broadband deployment throughout the U.S.;
- Urges that all barriers to electric utilities accessing funding opportunities be eliminated;
- Encourages state public utility commissions to support programs which permit their regulated investor-owned utilities to provide appropriate measures to assist the expansion of broadband in their service territories; and,
- Recommends that electric utilities of all ownership types and sizes, regardless of location, empower broadband deployment. The Utilities Technology Council encourages its members to consider the ways in which they can assist in bridging the Digital Divide.
- In this resolution, UTC:
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- In this resolution, UTC:
- Calls for a broad, holistic conversation on the energy and water industry’s spectrum needs. This discussion should include but not be limited to the following:
- Exploration of suitable bands for utility purposes Exploration of potential sharing with federal agencies
- Exploration of adequate protections for utility spectrum needs
- Exploration of future utility spectrum needs; and,
- Will establish a working group to propose a national utility spectrum plan that will outline the industry’s use cases for current and future spectrum needs, and the best ways to pursue those needs.
- Calls for a broad, holistic conversation on the energy and water industry’s spectrum needs. This discussion should include but not be limited to the following:
- In this resolution, UTC:
