CURRENT TRENDS/HOT TOPICS IN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
- Small Wireless Facilities in the public rights-of-way;
- Nationwide 5G deployment;
- Navigating recently revised Shot Clocks;
- Rights of carriers;
- Rights of municipalities (fee limits, setting the streetscape, oversight);
- SHPO and Environmental review procedures;
- Edge Data Services – Tower companies or wireless infrastructure LL’s can use existing facility footprints/real estate, security, electrical power and dark fiber assets to facilitate the deployment of edge distributed data centers - Cloud computing companies will prefer edge data centers located closer to their facilities to reduce bandwidth and latency issues; As the major wireless carriers continue to deploy 5G, capacity and data needs may drive them to utilize edge data services that would be located closer to end-users;
- Smart City Applications – The Internet of Things (“IoT”) which requires low latency, super-fast technology, will especially benefit smart city technology uses such as:
- Commercial Transportation
- Smart parking
- Traffic management
- Public wi-fi applications/digital kiosks
- Autonomous vehicles
- Manufacturing
- Law Enforcement, Fire Departments & other emergency first responders/public safety (security lighting, real-time data/info gathering, and shot-spotter technology)
- Health care uses including the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), facilitated augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI), and other telemedicine uses
- Farming/agriculture
- OTARD Rules – Recent changes in January 2021 allow for applicability of rules to rooftop hub sites – Beneficial for real estate owners seeking to provide high-speed wireless broadband services for both commercial and residential tenants.