Oct 07, 2005 - 06:01:36 CDT
Companies could build more than 20 North Dakota cell phone signal towers this year after a federal agency acted to clear a national backlog of more than 1,000 construction applications, a state regulator said."It should give the green light to the vast majority of towers that were scheduled to be built this year," said Tony Clark, president of the state Public Service Commission.
Companies have been awaiting Federal Communications Commission action on 28 North Dakota applications to build new towers or cell phone antennas, Clark said. Most of the requests should be covered by Thursday's FCC decision, he said.
In September 2004, the FCC began requiring cell phone companies to notify American Indian tribes about plans to build towers, to allow tribes to object to locations that have religious or cultural importance.
Companies have wondered what to do if tribes ignore notices. The FCC decision says companies, after filing a cell tower application, must make at least two attempts over 40 days to contact affected tribes.
If a tribe does not respond, the company should tell the FCC, which will notify the tribe's cultural resources representative. If the tribe doesn't reply within 20 days, regulators will assume tribal officials don't object, the new rule says.
Any construction notice submitted before Sept. 10 shall be considered approved if a tribe hasn't objected, the rule says. A Verizon Wireless spokesman has previously estimated that more than 1,000 applications have been waiting for FCC action.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission, which has almost no jurisdiction over cellular phone companies, has been jawboning for better service, holding hearings in some small towns and advising community leaders about ways to push for improvements.
A Verizon spokesman could not be reached for comment on the FCC decision. Alltel spokesman Chris Hunt said company officials had not reviewed the ruling.
"We've obviously had an interest in balancing everyone's need to respond to a tower request, and needs to move ahead reasonably with construction," Hunt said. "We're hopeful that this will strike a balance."
Clark said he was still hopeful North Dakota cell phone tower work could proceed this year. A snowstorm struck much of North Dakota on Wednesday.
"We still have a window of a few weeks were, hopefully, the footings (for cell phone towers) can get poured," he said. "It at least gives us some hope, and some opportunity."
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