Pittsburgh is 'illegally' pocketing $580 on street light small cell fees says AT&T in a lawsuit

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Pittsburgh is ‘illegally’ pocketing $580 on street light small cell fees says AT&T in a lawsuit

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator April 8, 2021

AT&T is suing the City of Pittsburgh for allegedly failing to meet the FCC’s shot clock requirements and for asking excessive fees for new cell structures in the city’s rights-of-way. ... The carrier states that the fees and delays for installing small-cell network equipment along city roadways have prevented AT&T from providing service to the area and violates the federal Telecommunications Act and FCC orders.

The complaint, brought in federal court on Tuesday, says the city is requesting an annual fee of $850 for each cell facility to be built by the company, an amount that is nearly 215% higher than the $270 fee that is found to be reasonable by the FCC.

On December 8, 2020, AT&T finalized submission of two pole permit applications and paid the required filing fees. Both applications involved the swap-out of existing decorative light poles owned by the city with replacement poles of substantially similar design, the collocation of antennas at the top of each pole, and installation of radio equipment to be housed in shrouds.

The shot clock on the application expired on March 8, 2021, with the city taking no action on the applications, according to the complaint.

{snip}

[getagrip_already]

1. how do fees cause delays?

Not paying the fees would, but how do the fees themselves create delays and prevent service rollout?

Sounds like whiny behavior to me.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. It is alleged that the city was dragging its heels. From the article:

The shot clock on the application expired on March 8, 2021, with the city taking no action on the applications, according to the complaint.

[getagrip_already]

3. oh, so att paid the fees and the city didn't act on the app, keeping the fees?

That isn't right if that's the case.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. I don't think that's right. I'm not involved, so I can't be sure.

I can't imagine that the fees would be paid upfront, and then the city gets to take its sweet time approving the installations. It is more likely that there is an application fee. Then, when the installation goes into place, the remainder of the amount is paid.

Again, I don't know.

At any rate, what AT&T is saying is that the amount the city wants is far in excess of equivalent installations elsewhere.

I gather that the city didn't get around to reviewing the applications on a timely basis, delaying the rollout of 5G.

[FakeNoose]

5. Mayor Bill Peduto is running for re-election this year

If this is some kind of error or failure, I'm sure he'll look into it and correct it. I don't know what this is about, but I do know that Peduto would not let it slide in an election year.