HomeMy WebLinkAbout1 - Original Submission_ 20211118 ATC and Federated Wireless Sublease Request
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FIFO Networks 11100 SE Petrovitsky Road, #J-308 Renton, WA 98055-5693 Phone 206-465-2422 http://www.fifonetworks.com Review and Recommendation: American Tower Sublease Request for Federated Wireless at Alexander Lake – East (North Tower) Background
On October 28, 2021, Carolyn Srabian of The Lyle Company sent an email to the City of Bremerton
Legal Department, requesting consent to a sublease request. The sublease request is to add Federated Wireless, Inc. as an additional tenant at a communications site on City property managed by American Tower Corporation (ATC). ATC identifies the site as Site Number 83092, and calls it West Bremerton.
The City identifies the site as Alexander Lake – East (North Tower). The telecommunications site has no postal address. Historically, both ATC and the City have
incorrectly designated the site with a nearby street address, 1301 Union Ave W, Bremerton, WA
98312, which is 1.23 miles east of the tower. At this time, the only tenant on the tower is Verizon Wireless. Federated Wireless would be the second tenant.
The Lyle Company has provided proof to the City that they are ATC’s authorized agent for coordinating the Federated Wireless sublease. On November 17, 2021, Melinda Monroe forwarded the relevant documents to me for review,
comment, and recommendation.
I have reviewed the documents forwarded to me, the original lease, and other information about the communications site, the companies involved, and the technologies and equipment that will be deployed. The rest of this report contains information about the proposed installation and my recommendation to approve the sublease request.
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FIFO Networks 11100 SE Petrovitsky Road, #J-308 Renton, WA 98055-5693 Phone 206-465-2422 http://www.fifonetworks.com Why This Installation? The build-out of 5G cellular telecommunications systems is only possible because the FCC has made
additional spectrum (radio frequency bands) available. This additional spectrum requires continuous frequency coordination. The word “continuous” is not used lightly in this context. As a practical example, a mobile phone on a coastal highway may have to instantaneously change channels in order to avoid interfering with ship’s radar on a vessel located between the coast and the horizon. This
dynamic frequency coordination requires two systems that work in conjunction with each other.
These two systems are called: 1. Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC), and 2. Spectrum Access System (SAS).
I have previously written an explanation of ESC/SAS for the City, and rather than reproduce the same information here, I recommend that interested parties review the following information, which will be provided along with this report. They should be read in the following order:
1. Google and American Tower Corporation.pptx
2. Google and ATC - Reply to Questions 20191216.pdf 3. Answers to Additional Questions.pdf To date, Google and Federated Wireless are the only companies licensed by the FCC to provide ESC/SAS services. Google and Federated Wireless are direct competitors. All cellular carriers will
need to pay for ESC/SAS services from one or the other. While the reports were written to answer the City’s questions about Google’s ESC/SAS installation, all of the information in the three documents listed above applies equally to Google and Federated Wireless.
Google has already built their ESC/SAS system, with the City’s approval, on another tower managed
by ATC. The Google ESC/SAS system is located at Alexander Lake – East (South Tower). Federated Wireless is now asking for permission to build their system at Alexander Lake – East (North Tower).
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FIFO Networks 11100 SE Petrovitsky Road, #J-308 Renton, WA 98055-5693 Phone 206-465-2422 http://www.fifonetworks.com Recommendation I recommend that the City approve without hesitation the request for Federated Wireless to sublease
at Alexander Lake – East (North Tower), for the following reasons. 1. The City has previously reviewed the issues and has approved the similar request from Google.
2. Construction of the only FCC-approved competitor prevents a regional monopoly on
ESC/SAS services by Google. 3. The sublease agreement brings additional revenue to the City. 4. The residents of Bremerton will benefit from improved wireless communications services. 5. Competition helps control the price of wireless communications services. 6. Public safety and emergency responders will benefit from improved wireless communications
services. 7. Construction on an existing tower is, in general, preferable to construction of a new tower, when an existing tower is capable of supporting the new service.
Report prepared by:
--Bob Young November 18, 2021
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