Subject: [NEXTEL-1] City calls wireless complaint 'flawed'

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 02:40:26 -0500

Jacksonville Daily Record, FL - Oct 30, 2003
City calls wireless complaint 'flawed'
by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer

A complaint filed against the City, claiming insufficient wireless
coverage for emergency calls, is “a flawed work product that should not
be taken seriously,” according to the City’s response.

In a two–page draft letter to the State’s Wireless 911 Board, the City
said the original complaint, filed in September by a wireless lobbying
firm, was riddled with inaccuracies. The City claimed that the Florida
Telecommunications Industry Association misrepresented the intent of
State statutes, which provide guidelines for wireless emergency
coverage.
“Most glaring, the . . . inconsistencies all occur within the report’s
first two sentences,” said the letter.

Jacksonville was one of 18 Florida cities and counties named in the FTIA
report. It complained of “unreasonable delays in locating wireless
telecommunications facilities” needed to provide cellular users with
emergency service.
In response to the report, the State’s Wireless E911 Board formed a
subcommittee charged with recommending solutions to the State House and
the governor.

Those recommendations will help form a statewide policy for the
installation of cell phone towers and antennas.
If the City’s emergency wireless coverage was found wanting, the board’s
recommendations would likely include less local control over cell tower
construction. Kraig Conn, legislative counsel for the Florida League of
Cities, said the board could strip away some local control over wireless
zoning. However, he said the League of Cities would fight to protect
local oversight.
“There’s certainly an aesthetic issue; no one wants to see a 200–foot
tower every half-mile,” said Conn. “But a complete loss of municipal
authority is not really a possibility. These decisions need to be made
at a local level.”

The FTIA report was filed on behalf of wireless carriers: Alltel,
Cingular, AT&T, Nextel, Verizon, T–Mobile and Sprint PCS. It claims that
obtrusive local oversight has prevented the carriers from building
towers or antennas needed for emergency calls.
However, Conn said the complaint could be an attempt by the carriers to
build more towers. He said it was “hard to discern” from the FTIA’s
report whether the carrier’s wanted to increase safety or expand their
market.

“We’re not agreeing to put a tower wherever they want just to increase
market share,” said Conn. “The legislative requirements are very
specific toward what can be done; market share is not a concern.”

In the letter, the City said it invited on July 15, 2002, “all
stakeholders to the table to discuss and negotiate revisions to the
City’s wireless laws.” The recommendations were adopted by a 17–0 City
Council vote, and the City’s service “have been working satisfactorily
to the City, its citizens and cellular service providers.”

The letter said the City was “at a loss” to explain the source of the
FTIA’s complaint. The City, it said, contacted area wireless providers
after receiving the report and “failed to turn up any specific
processing problems or coverage gaps.
“Until otherwise proven, the City does not believe its wireless service
facility laws are causing providers to experience unreasonable delay.”

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=39740

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