How Increasing 5G Infrastructure May Impact Local Land Use
[caption id="attachment_17616" align="alignright" width="200"] 5G Tower in Denver. Photo courtesy of Craig Karn, Consilium Design[/caption]
4G has dominated the mobile technology market for several years. But 5G (fifth generation wireless) is the next step in the tech evolution, and its rollout across the nation by major carriers could potentially impact many areas of the construction industry.
"5G brings three new aspects to the table: bigger channels (to speed up data), lower latency (to be more responsive), and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once (for sensors and smart devices)," according to Sascha Segan of PCMag.
Based on speeds and range, 5G offers three bandwidths: low-band, mid-band and high-band. The differences in these products, what they provide and where they are located may impact land use.
4G cell towers typically range from 50-200 feet in height and are often located in industrial or commercial areas. Their coverage range allows towers to be spaced miles apart. 5G, on the other hand — particularly the mid- and high-band cells — incorporates "small cells" that are smaller in size and must be installed closer together to support their high-power but short range. This will create a network of small cell sites with antennas as close as few hundred feet apart, potentially in residential areas.
5G small cells typically resemble small utility boxes and attach to poles shorter than those used for 4G. Along with the performance benefits of 5G — including higher data rates, lower latency and increased capacity — 5G has the potential to improve connectivity to education and rural Internet access. 5G may also improve efficiency for increasingly digital industries, such as green energy production.
In 2018, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order that aims to accelerate deployment of 5G mainly by limiting state and local governments' powers to regulate their installation.
The order changes the status quo by limiting local government authority to regulate new wireless infrastructure. For the first time, localities can pass 5G wireless siting ordinances only if they are:
- Reasonable;
- No more burdensome than those applied to other types of infrastructure; and
- Objective and published in advance.