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New rules in Palo Alto would require Telecoms to get exceptions before they can encroach on residential areas

By Gennady Sheyner, Dec 17, 2019 | Original Palo Alto Weekly article here.

On Dec. 16, 2019, the Palo Alto City Council approved new rules for wireless communication facilities, which should be placed no closer than 600 feet to public schools. Photo by Veronica Weber. Palo Alto took its most dramatic action to date to curtail the proliferation of wireless antennas on street poles on Monday night, when the City Council agreed to restrict such equipment in residential neighborhoods.

The new rules aim to protect residents who have been arguing for years that the telecommunication equipment causes health, aesthetic and noise impacts. They aim to steer the equipment away from residential zones and toward commercial ones. They also attempt to strike a delicate balance: addressing the anxieties of residents without inviting lawsuits from telecommunication companies. In the end, neither side was fully satisfied. Dozens of residents submitted letters to the council on Monday to request tougher measures. At the same time, representatives of Verizon and Crown Castle argued in separate briefs that the standards proposed by staff are overly restrictive and illegal.

Continue reading “Palo Alto Steers Wireless Antennas Away from Neighborhoods and Schools”

Adapted from a Best Best & Krieger LLP, Dec 16, 2019 | JD Supra article here

More corrections in process . . . as of 12/17/19 @ 11:00 am EST . . .

Read the Order and NPRM at this link to the most readable version of FCC 19-126: Changes to the Commission’s Rules Regarding Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields

Will this Quell Public Harms From Densified 4G/5G Deployments?

As wireless carriers increasingly seek to install wireless networks on utility poles and street lights within communities across the country, they often encounter public opposition in the local approval process based on the facilities’ purported health risks fully-documented negative health consequences . While These debates take place at the local level. local officials’ hands are largely tied In the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Congress never preempted from local officials their authority to regulate the operations of Wireless Telecommunications Facilities (WTFs). Localities have always had the duty and the police powers to limit the Effective Radiated Power exiting the face of the antenna shroud in order to protect the quiet enjoyment of streets and to not incommode the public. as Congress granted authority to establish radio frequency, or RF, emissions standards only to the Federal Communications Commission.[1]

On Dec. 4, the FCC took action on RF emissions in a new RF Order that:

• Finds that existing RF exposure limits should remain unchanged;
• Resolves a Notice of Inquiry opened in 2013 with a 2nd Report and Order; and
• Issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding impacts of certain high frequency emissions (comments on the proposed rule are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register).

Continue reading “FCC Issues Order and NPRM on Wireless RF Emissions Standards”

By Judy Bruce | Original Citizens Journal article here.

On April 8, 2019 I was interviewed by KCET for their so called “ investigating-reporting” show. The topic was “Densified 4G and 5G Wireless Telecommunications Facilities”. Their show, “SoCal Connected”, is touted as KCET’s weekly award winning, primetime news magazine offering viewers in-depth stories on the environment, economy, health, social and community issues and other substantive topics.

They spent several hours in my house in an interview as well as filming me in my car driving to and from a cell tower in the neighborhood. They told me the final product would depict both sides of the story. The camera crew then followed us to Simi Valley City Hall to hear several of our speakers give eloquent public comments about the dangers of Densified 4G and 5G.

When we asked when the story would be aired, we were shocked to hear not until fall! It’s now fall: Time for follow up. This was the result of the conversation I had recently with the producer of the show:

• “That story is on a pause.”
• “There wasn’t enough information.”
• “We have more important stories.”
• “We are short staffed.”

So the obvious conclusion is that this producer allows an industry-controlled media gatekeeper to cut one of the most substantive stories of the century!

Continue reading “Negative Health Consequences of Densified 4G/5G”

Adapted from an AT&T Press Release, Dec 13, 2019 | Original presss release here.

Warning: Marketing Propaganda . . . hold your nose, before viewing

1. Map for Birmingham, AL
2. Map for Indianapolis, IN
3. Map for Los Angeles, CA
4. Map for Milwaukee, WI
5. Map for Pittsburgh, PA
6. Map for Providence, RI
7. Map for Rochester, NY
8. Map for San Diego, CA
9. Map for San Francisco, CA
10. Map for San Jose, CA

Continue reading “AT&T: 5G is Now Live in Portions of Ten US Markets”

Mozilla, Others Ask Court to Reverse Ruling that Let FCC Kill Net Neutrality

By Jon Brodkin, Dec 13, 2019 | Original ARS Technical article here.

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Links to three petitions for rehearing and rehearing, en banc, in DC Circuit Court of Appeals:

1. Link to Mozilla, Etsy, INCOMPAS, Vimeo, and the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee

2. Link to New America’s Open Technology Institute, Free Press, Public Knowledge, CDT, The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, CCIA, and National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates]

3. Link to National Hispanic Media Coalition

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Mozilla and other organizations today appealed the court ruling that upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules, arguing that the FCC’s claim that broadband isn’t telecommunications should not have been accepted by judges.

The FCC repeal was upheld in October by a three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court had some good news for net neutrality supporters because it vacated the FCC’s attempt to preempt all current and future state net neutrality laws. But Mozilla and others aren’t giving up hope on reinstating the FCC rules nationwide.

The Mozilla petition filed today asks for an en banc rehearing of the case involving all of the DC Circuit judges. Mozilla is probably facing an uphill battle because the three-judge panel unanimously agreed that the FCC can repeal its own net neutrality rules.

Joining Mozilla in the appeal were online companies Etsy and Vimeo, industry lobby group Incompas, and the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee, which represents business users of communications services. The case is known as Mozilla v. FCC.

Continue reading “Multiple Appeals Challenge FCC Claim That Broadband is Not Telecommunications”

Key Public Comments

• Harry L —> https://youtu.be/-KhKTl2ONbI?t=2h42m8s
• Jennifer L —> https://youtu.be/-KhKTl2ONbI?t=1h28m28s
• Kim S —> https://youtu.be/-KhKTl2ONbI?t=1h43m52s
• Alex K —> https://youtu.be/-KhKTl2ONbI?t=1h50m10s
• Martha G —> https://youtu.be/-KhKTl2ONbI?t=2h16m2s

City of Santa Rosa Council Discussion on Densifed 4G/5G So-Called “Small” Cells December 10, 2019:

100 Municipalities of Italy are Officially Stopping Densified 4G/5G

by Maurizio Martucci Dec 10, 2019 | Original oasisana English translation here.

A small Italian miracle in defense of public health. Just nine months after the approval of the Vicovaro Resolution in the consensus of the 1st Stop 5G national meeting promoted on 2 March 2019 by the Italian Alliance Stop 5G, today 100 Italian Municipalities are officially stopping densified 4G/5G . Before Vicovaro the void, in the local administrations of the fifth generation wireless tsunami was not discussed at all, completely ignored the risk, while now – less than 300 days from the first historic event – a rising tide of awareness in claiming a right sanctioned in Article 32 of the Constitution, recalling the European precautionary principle, spreads relentlessly from the Valle d’Aosta to Sicily , from the province of Bolzano to that of Caltanissetta and Nuoro , passing through the cities of Rome (Municipio XII), Turin, Catania, Florence and Bologna . And we’re just beginning.

Continue reading “Densified 4G/5G Now is Also a Democratic Problem”

• Thu Dec 12, 2019
• 10:30 am – 12:30 pm EST
• Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, DC
• Link to Live Feed

The FCC is holding this Open Meeting on the subjects listed below:

1. 988: Suicide Prevention Hotline Number
   The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would propose to designate 988 as the 3-digit number for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. WC Docket No. 18-336
2. Promoting Innovation in the 5.9 GHz Band
   The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would take a fresh and comprehensive look at the rules for the 5.9 GHz band and propose, among other things, to make the lower 45 MHz of the band available for unlicensed operations and to permit Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) operations in the upper 20 megahertz of the band. (ET Docket No. 19-138)
3. Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.1-3.55 GHz Band
   The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on removing the existing non-federal allocations in the 3.3-3.55 GHz band as a step towards potential future shared use between federal incumbents and commercial users. (WT Docket No. 19-348)
4. VoIP Symmetry
   The Commission will consider an Order on Remand and Declaratory Ruling that would promote continued investment in IP-based networks by clarifying that a local exchange carrier partnering with a VoIP provider may assess end office switched access charges only if the carrier or its VoIP partner provides a physical connection to the last-mile facilities used to serve the end user. (WC Docket No. 10-90, CC Docket No. 01-92)
5. Cable Service Change Notifications
   The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on modernizing requirements for notices cable operators must provide consumers and local franchise authorities. (MB Docket Nos. 19-347, 17-105)
6. Noncommercial and Low Power FM Station Licensing
   The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would revise the Commission’s Noncommercial Educational Broadcast Station and Low Power FM Station comparative processing and licensing rules. (MB Docket No. 19-3)

Continue reading “Dec 12, 2019 FCC Open Meeting”

Sanders would regulate broadband as utility and spend $150 billion on networks.

​By Jon Brodkin, Dec 7, 2019 | Original ARS Technica article here.

Presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders yesterday released a plan to overhaul the US broadband market by breaking up giant providers, outlawing data caps, regulating broadband prices, and providing $150 billion to build publicly owned networks.

"The Internet as we know it was developed by taxpayer-funded research, using taxpayer-funded grants in taxpayer-funded labs," the Sanders plan said. "Our tax dollars built the Internet, and access to it should be a public good for all, not another price-gouging profit machine for Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon."

If enacted, Sanders’ "High-Speed Internet for All" plan would be the polar opposite of the Trump administration’s treatment of broadband companies and far more aggressive than the regulatory approach of the Obama administration. Sanders pledged to "use existing antitrust authority to break up Internet service provider and cable monopolies," specifically by "bar[ring] service providers from also providing content and unwind anticompetitive vertical conglomerates."

Perhaps most notably, this could force Comcast to divest NBCUniversal and force AT&T to divest Time Warner. Of course, a US president can’t simply issue an order to break up these companies. But if Sanders is elected, he could nominate Department of Justice officials who are likely to file antitrust lawsuits against the companies that dominate the broadband industry.

Continue reading “Bernie Sanders Vows to Break Up Huge ISPs”

Adapted from an article by Dominique Maria Bonessi, Dec 6, 2019 | Original WAMU article here.

There’s a battle playing out between state and local governments over who should be allowed to regulate 5G — the new mobile technology that will hasten internet data speeds. But at a hearing in Montgomery County last month, that fight took a backseat to residents and experts who entered substantial evidence in the record about negative health consequences from exposures to pulsed, data-modulated, Radio-frequency Electromagnetic Microwave Radiation (RF-EMR).

Note the problems below in red:

 

Dr. Devra Davis, the president and founder of the Environmental Health Trust at the hearing, said:

“We’re going to be exposing the entire population of this country to 5G without any safety data. There are a lot of myths about 5G and, unfortunately, we’re being sold something for which there are no standards. It’s being built and then we’ll figure it out.”

Davis and others expressed that the radio frequencies from 4G and 5G could be cancerous. Scientists and doctors would like to see more research done before implementing the technology nationwide. Because of that, some local governments have paused implementing the telecommunications hardware until more research can be conducted.

Davis said:

“We have a 21st Century technology and we’re operating it with 20th Century safety standards. Would you like to fly an airplane today that used 20th Century safety standards?”

Continue reading “Densified 4G and 5G Comes With A Regulatory Headache And Negative Health Consequences”