STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI
Re: 2004 and 2006 Biennial Regulatory Reviews - Streamlining and Other Revisions of Parts 1 and
17 of the Commission’s Rules Governing Construction, Marking and Lighting of Antenna 
Structures, WT Docket No. 10-88, Amendments to Modernize and Clarify Part 17 of the 
Commission’s Rules Concerning Construction, Marking and Lighting of Antenna Structures, 
RM 11349
When the Commission eliminates a rule specifying that tower owners must notify the FAA about 
lighting outages “by telephone or telegraph,”
1
you know our modernization effort is long overdue.  I’m 
glad we’re updating our rules today, especially by streamlining some of those governing towers, antennas, 
and other infrastructure.  Spectrum policy grabs the headlines, but wireless infrastructure is no less 
important.  No matter how much spectrum we make available, consumers won’t have superior or even 
adequate wireless service if companies can’t deploy infrastructure in a timely manner.
And for far too long, the FCC’s infrastructure rules have not kept pace with changes in 
technology.  They have impeded innovation and imposed costs with few—if any—offsetting public 
benefits.  Today’s Order makes some progress on this front.
For example, we eliminate an unnecessary mandate by determining that tower owners that use 
advanced monitoring systems in network operations centers need not conduct quarterly, in-person tower 
inspections.  This is a needless requirement that has cost one company alone $9.8 million since 2007.  By 
getting rid of outdated regulations like this, we enable infrastructure providers to focus less on jumping 
through pointless regulatory hoops and more on meeting consumers’ growing demand for wireless 
services.
But there is much more work to be done.  In 2012, I called on the Commission to streamline and 
reform our rules governing the deployment of wireless infrastructure.
2
  Then, in a unanimous vote last 
year, we announced a comprehensive review of all our wireless infrastructure rules.  We teed up issues 
like small-cell deployments, Distributed Antenna Systems, the use of local moratoria, and improvements 
to our shot clock rules—reforms that are beyond the scope of today’s narrower Order.
3
Now is the time to complete that review and update our rules in a comprehensive manner.  We 
need to remove barriers to infrastructure deployment so that America can continue to lead the world in 
wireless.
4
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to make that happen.
                                                     
1
47 C.F.R. § 17.48(a) (emphasis added).
2
Remarks of Commissioner Ajit Pai at CTIA’s MobileCon, San Diego, California (Oct. 10, 2012), 
http://go.usa.gov/Dd6k.
3
See Acceleration of Broadband Deployment by Improving Wireless Facilities Siting Policies; Acceleration of 
Broadband Deployment: Expanding the Reach and Reducing the Cost of Broadband Deployment by Improving 
Policies Regarding Public Rights of Way and Wireless Facilities Siting; 2012 Biennial Review of 
Telecommunications Regulations, WT Docket Nos. 13-238, 13-32, WC Docket No. 11-59, Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, 28 FCC Rcd 14238 (2013).
4
Remarks of Commissioner Ajit Pai at PCIA’s 2014 Wireless Infrastructure Show (May 20, 2014), 
http://go.usa.gov/NXNQ.