Services – Wireless & Wind Turbine Consulting

Telecommunication Ordinance Review

Municipal Wireless Solutions staff in concert with our client’s Legal staff, will assist local government in the development and approval of regulations that will comply with Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, specifically:

Regulations governing the placement, construction and modification of personal wireless service facilities which do not discriminate among providers of functionally equivalent services and do not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of cellular and personal communication services (PCS).
Ensure requests and authorization to place construct or modify cellular and PCS facilities are acted upon and in compliance with the Telecommunications Act.

Radio Frequency (RF) Engineering Analysis/Site Plan & Application Review

Municipal Wireless provides to government entities, the appropriate technical resources to review and evaluate carrier requests and applications. This allows the local government an independent and defensible review to evaluate new tower requests on their merits, while maintaining local control over the location of the proposed facility. We will provide an analysis of the carrier’s application and a determination if it is technically justified. Additionally we can evaluate alternative sites that may be more appropriate to the community. Municipal Wireless provides you with the information to act upon these applications and make such decisions.

Municipal Wireless legal staff will review the application from a legal standpoint to ensure it meets the requirements of the applicable ordinance in terms of zoning, permissible structure height, safety and aesthetics, and compliance with applicable federal guidelines including FAA and FCC (i.e., RF emission standards, power levels, etc.).

The FCC suggests communities seek independent third party reviews of wireless siting applications. The local government can require (by ordinance) that the wireless providers absorb the cost of this independent evaluation as part of the planning and zoning application process.
Municipal Wireless will conduct an evaluation of a carriers request for new tower facilities to include, but is not limited to:

Determine if the search ring is adequate based on generally accepted cellular and PCS engineering principles for the intended site.
Evaluate proposed height of requested facility, based on capacity or coverage. Is the height truly needed, based on hand-off, building penetration and overlap? This evaluation is performed using a coverage prediction software package used by many carriers.
Evaluate site options. Can this site be accommodated at any existing structure or other proposed sites? Is there an ability of this site or an alternative site to be used for future co-location opportunities?
Evaluate compliance with existing ordinance (i.e., setbacks, tower separations, ordinance definitions, etc.) and compliance with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Evaluate aesthetic impact and possible mitigation of, structures, shelters, containers and landscaping to provide a more aesthetically pleasing solution.
Evaluation of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radio Frequency (RF) exposure compliance.
Develop a database and framework that can be used as a basis for a future telecommunications plan.

Towers and Wireless Facilities

What a Community Can Control:

Cost of Expert Assistance – Can be required to be paid for by Applicant (No Cost to Community)
No towers on ‘Speculation’, i.e. without a service provider who can prove the need for the facility
Verification/Determination of actual Need (How do you know that the Tower or Wireless Facility is really needed? You’d probably be surprised at how many times there is no provable need.)
Location (You can prioritize preferred locations… without violating the prohibition against ‘zoning them out’)
Height (Does it really have to be as tall as the service provider says? Almost never!)
Appearance/Aesthetics
Required Co-location of facilities (to minimize the number of towers)
Number of Sites in the Community
Application Fees – Amount
Non-tax Revenue (Different than Fees)
Verification of compliance with the FCC’s RF Emission Standards
Aesthetics/Appearance (It doesn’t have to be recognizable as a wireless facility)
Lighting can be prohibited
Setback
Signage
Screening
Structural Adequacy and Integrity
Site Security
Utilities (Underground versus Aerial)
Removal Bond (In the event the facility is ever abandoned)
Indemnification for use of municipally-owned property
Insurance
Interference with other communications & electronic devices
Inspection to assure that what is constructed is what was permitted

Site Management

Many communities are requesting better security and management of there public properties. Municipal Wireless will manage their (wireless Facilities) water tower sites and public property sites. We will assure all individuals that enter the property have proper identification; we will obtain criminal investigations, and will require that the wireless personnel contact us directly for approval prior to entering the site.

Wireless Consulting for Government Agencies | Midwest, USA

Municipal Wireless Solutions Inc. has locations in Illinois & Michigan. Our services are available throughout the United States, including, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio & Wisconsin.