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Verizon has filed a lawsuit against excessive charges for deploying mobile network infrastructure in the City of Rochester
Verizon is to sue the City of Rochester in upstate New York, over the fees charged for deploying 5G network architecture. Verizon claims that the fees charged by the City of Rochester are higher than those permitted by federal law.
The US’ telecoms regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), recently imposed a maximum limit of £270 per site for small cell deployment. However, Verizon claims that is being charged upwards of $1,500 per site in Rochester.
In its court filing, Verizon claimed that it would need to deploy an estimated 300,000 small cell cites across the US as it looks to continue rolling out 5G and expanding its 4G coverage. With such a large scale deployment of network architecture on the cards, Verizon warned that excessive access charges would seriously inhibit the rollout of next generation mobile networks across the US.
"[This] is approximately double the number of “macro cells” built over the last thirty years to support 4G and other prior generations of wireless technology. This significant increase in wireless network infrastructure will magnify per-facility fees charged to providers,making such fees more likely to materially inhibit service when they exceed the actual and objectively reasonable costs incurred by the local government," the court filing said.In addition to the small cell deployment charges, Verizon also objected to a raft of other associated fees, levied by the City of Rochester, including charges associated with laying fibre cabling. Verizon maintains that the costs associated with laying fibre in the City could set a dangerous precedent for its national buildout plans.
"Backhaul for modern wireless networks is typically provided by fibre cables, often located in public rights-of-way. And because a Small Wireless Facility will not operate unless it is connected to the larger network, fibre backhaul is crucial for achieving the full benefits of 5G," Verizon reiterated in its court filing.
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