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Warren City Council hears from 5G experts

The Warren City Council and city boards have spent a significant amount of time discussing regulations regarding 5G rollout in the city.

Two industry experts — Bob Ritter and Thomas Musgrove with Crown Castle, a communications infrastructure firm — walked the council through the nuts and bolts of the “small cell” development that will be needed to serve residents once 5G makes it here in earnest.

At issue isn’t regulation regarding full-scale cell towers but rather “small cells” needed to increase network capacity.

Musgrove said these small cells are “meant to look like utility poles” and get the network closer to the end user. “The goal is to make sure they’re designed to be in plain sight,” he said.

He said state law won’t allow the poles these cells are mounted on to be in excess of 50 feet in height or 10 feet taller than the highest adjacent structure. Antenna size is restricted to a maximum of 3 cubic feet and the ancillary material can’t exceed 28 cubic feet.

“The standard should not be that it’s invisible,” Ritter said. “(It) should be unobtrusive.”

Just how many of these small cells it will take to cover the city depends on what each network is trying to accomplish, Musgrove said, speculating that one may be needed every 500 feet up to 2,500 feet.

Musgrove said upward of 90% of the deployments their company has done are in the public right of way.

“Small cells supplement the overall network,” he said. “Different cities look for different ways to build the infrastructure. It comes down to how you want these to look” and blend in with existing streetscape.

The council asked about the cost for each of the small cells and the answer was — it depends.

Depending on the type of pole — wood vs. decorative, like those in downtown Warren — and the equipment and power, Ritter said the cost “could get closer to six figures than five figures.”

The rural nature of our community makes such local deployment a challenge everywhere.

“(I) don’t feel that fiber to the home is a solution for everyone in the United States,” Musgrove said. “It just isn’t going to work.” It’s his view that using cell phone towers and existing infrastructure “to provide wireless connectivity to homes” is “ultimately the most efficient solution.”

Ritter added that 5G deployment will bring speeds that people are similar to at home or at the office.

He told council that state law “does a good job of giving you parameters and a structure to follow so you don’t really have to reinvent this and create this on your own.”

Ritter stressed the importance of design guidelines.

“Now is the time to decide what you want your community to look like,” he said. “This doesn’t have to be overwhelming.”

What the next steps are for the city aren’t yet clear.

Planning Commission chair Angie Dart spoke on Monday in support of a draft ordinance that has already been before council.

“I thought that the presentation was balanced and am hopeful that Council will act to preserve our beautiful City while accommodating new technology,” City Manager Nancy Freenock told the Times Observer on Tuesday.

“The latest technology is needed to attract remote workers to this area,” she stressed. “The next steps, after adoption of an ordinance, will be working with the County to… apply for grant funds and to attract a 5G provider to build out a system.”

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