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Page 462
54
Recognizing What the NII is, What it Needs, and How to Get it
Robert F. Roche
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association
Statement of the Problem
The national information infrastructure (NII) offers to
strengthen the U.S. economy and promote social and educational
development, but those contributions depend on its deployment. In
turn, the ability of wireless providers to deploy the facilities
necessary to provide the wireless component of the NII depends on
the government's recognizing—at all levels—that
restrictions on deployment also restrict these benefits. The
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) has urged
policymakers to adopt policies that will promote deployment of the
NII. These policies include (1) an Executive Order from the
President directing federal agencies to make available federal
lands and sites for telecommunications facilities; (2) an
affirmation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the
primacy of the national technical standards applying to radio
frequency (RF) emissions over local standars; and (3) an
affirmation by the FCC of the primacy of national
telecommunications policy over local policies that are hostile to
competition.
Summary
Wireless telecommunications is making great contributions to the
deployment of the NII. It has already met the mobile needs of over
25 million consumers in the United States. Wireless services are
meeting the need for wireless in-building services as well, and
their potential is phenomenal. For example, the ability of our
schools to offer students a rich experience and access to a broader
information base often runs up against the fact that most schools
are not currently wired for telecommunications and computing, and
that wiring these schools may pose the risk of exposure to asbestos
or the expense of extensive renovation and removal operations.
Wireless telecommunications and computing offer, in these cases,
more cost-effective and efficient alternatives to wired systems 1.
Wireless telecommunications is successful because it flourishes
in an environment of competition in lieu of government regulation.
This wireless paradigm has resulted in more than 200,000 new jobs
over the past 10 years, and almost $19 billion in private-sector
investment 2. In spite of these
gains, and the promise of as many as 1 million new jobs and another
$50 billion in investment over the next 10 years, there are
impediments to total success 3.
Wireless service is dependent on the deployment of antenna
facilities—cell sites—and the ability of wireless
companies to deploy the facilities for new systems, greater
capacity, and broader coverage is at risk. Some local jurisdictions
are preventing the deployment of antennas, either through outright
bans, extensive delays, or application of unscientific "local
technical standards" to radio frequency emissions. CTIA has called
for action to redress these problems and to permit wireless to
assume its full effective and efficient role in the NII.
Background
Much of the discussion of the NII has focused on wired
technologies—predominantly fiber optics—as the core of
the NII. That focus fails to recognize that wireless technologies
already make up a significant part of the
Page 463
national telecommunications network. Wireless already reaches
across the United States, with hundreds of wireless companies
competing to offer voice and data services, innovative
applications, and value to millions of consumers. These hundreds of
wireless service providers have been developing, funding, and
deploying a wireless NII for over 10 years, since the first
cellular system began operating in October 1983.
For all of that, wireless has almost been the secret success
story—perhaps because it is the success of private enterprise.
Over the past 12 months, there have been 19,043 references to the
NII or the information superhighway in the media 4. Of those stories, only 2,139
mentioned wireless or cellular. Of course, the reality is sinking
in that the NII—or the information superhighway—is and
must be more than a high-fiber diet (of fiber optic cable and other
hard-wired systems). The reality is that people are mobile, and
mobility implies being wireless. But being fixed does not
necessarily mean being wired. Indeed in many
environments—urban and rural—fixed services are better
delivered by wireless technology than by wired technology.
CTIA, as the industry association for wireless
providers—ranging from cellular to enhanced specialized mobile
radio (ESMR), satellite, and personal communication services
(PCS)—has been relentless in pressing this message. CTIA and
its members also have been relentless in making it a reality.
Indeed, the CTIA Foundation for Wireless Telecommunications has
cosponsored and cofunded wireless education and wireless medical
projects across the country (Box 1 gives two examples) 5.
Increasingly, wireless is being recognized as a vital part of
the NII. This forum is one example of that recognition. Last year
the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Committee on
Applications and Technology requested—and
received—comment on the demand for an NII, and on the role of
wireless in the NII 6. The Office of
Technology Assessment issued a report on "Wireless Technologies and
the NII" in August 1995. This recognition, however, is only the
beginning of the battle.
Figure 1
Cell site construction (reported as of December 1994).
Figure 2
Reported subscribers (as of December 1994).
The construction of Nextel Communications' ESMR network
demonstrates that the need for such sites is not limited to
cellular systems. By late 1994, Nextel was constructing 2,000 cell
sites for its ESMR network, and it had over 130 cell sites in Los
Angeles alone. As of year-end 1994, Nextel planned to construct
4,000 cell sites over the next 5 years to complete its network 
Figure 3
Paul Kagan Associates' wireless subscriber projections (October
1994).
to help extend the wireless superhighway. Maryland, for example,
has solicited Requests for Proposals and has issued a list of state
government-owned antenna sites that the state will make available
to applicants for suitable fees 16.
The state of Connecticut has essentially established a statewide
standard and process applicable to antenna siting, under the
auspices of the Connecticut Siting Council.
What Should be Done?
CTIA is not advocating a national zoning policy. CTIA is
advocating that consumers be helped and not hampered by government
at all levels.
Zoning rules that act as a direct bar to entry—such as
moratoria on tower or antenna siting—do not help consumers
because they obstruct competition and actually reduce the quality
of service available to consumers. Fortunately, such rules are
properly preempted under Section 332(c) of the Communications Act.
Likewise, zoning rules that indirectly bar entry—running
counter to the build-out requirements established by the
FCC—also are properly preempted under the Communications Act.
Since such unreasonable zoning and land use regulations that
directly or indirectly bar entry are so clearly inconsistent with
the consumer interest, the sole problem is ensuring that they are
recognized as inconsistent with national telecommunications policy.
Fundamentally, whether those issues are resolved at the federal or
state level is immaterial.
Of course, the reality is that the national telecommunications
policy—which puts competition to work for the
consumer—must be recognized as paramount and must be
implemented. Otherwise, the NII will simply be a grand illusion and
never a real producer of jobs, education, or security.
CTIA has acted to make the NII a reality. Indeed, cellular
companies have been building the wireless lanes and on- and
off-ramps of the NII for over a decade. Now, when the means of
making the information superhighway are debated, the role of
wireless must be recognized—and the needs of consumers given
full measure. CTIA has pressed for action to ensure that consumers
have access to what they want, when they want it.
On October 27, 1994, Thomas E. Wheeler, president and chief
executive officer of CTIA, wrote to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt,
warning that
Ubiquitous wireless service—including
wireless service to schools,libraries, and public
safetyagencies—requires ubiquitous cell sites. Too often the
process ofbuilding the wireless network is
