By Ken Schmidt May 27, 2019, Steel in the Air (SITA) Blog
SYRACUSE COULD NOT PREVENT VERIZON FROM
ADDING SMALL CELLS TO ITS RIGHT OF WAYS
It is important to realize that Syracuse really didn’t have much choice of whether to allow
Verizon to access the city public right-of-ways and structures due to the FCC’s Third Order
regarding small cells. While the City could have negotiated a higher amount for the pole
access rights or permit fees, they would have had to demonstrate that their actual costs in
reviewing small cell applications and maintaining the right-of-ways were higher than the
nominal fees allowed for in the FCC Third Order. As it stands, the City had to reduce its
annual fee for small cells from $950/year to the FCC mandated $270/year. Over the next
10 years, that means that the City will receive $1.6M from Verizon instead of $5.4M for
the small cells.
BUT THEY COULD HAVE ENTERED A LESS ONE-SIDED
AGREEMENT
1.The City has granted rights to Verizon for upwards of 45 years when it didn’t
have to.
2. The agreement entered into by the City concedes unnecessary rights to Verizon
under contract law.
3. Other cities have received additional compensation in the form of public safety
or IOT monitoring and services, higher fees to help pay for additional staff to
review small cells applications. The City of Syracuse received nothing.
4. The agreement gives the City very limited rights to terminate even if health risks
are identified and proven in the scientific community.
5. By agreeing to such a one-sided agreement, the City has condemned itself to agree
to similar agreements with ANY company providing wireless services who want to
deploy in the ROW.
