5G deals tabled in Trenton for now

TRENTON » 5G is on hold in the capital city.

The legislative body tabled 15-year licensing agreements with telecommunications giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. temporarily halting the process of bringing 5G, known as fifth generation, to the city.

Council president Kathy McBride expressed concerns about the length of the licensing agreements because they exceed the current council’s term and tie the hands of future legislators should they not decide the deals no longer benefit Trenton.

The decision to table the measures gives the telecommunications companies a chance to restructure the terms of the agreements and bring them back before the legislative body later in the year.

Kevin Jones of Verizon Wireless said his company was willing to renegotiate the contract for a 10-year deal with a series of renewal options.

A representative for AT&T hadn’t received approval to change the terms of a separate licensing arrangement, so the council tabled the measure in hopes of possibly salvaging the deal.

Council members advised the telecommunications giants that they want them to hold community meetings as par to any agreement so residents understand benefits and implications of bringing the latest highspeed technology to the city.

Some council members were concerned about the potential health risk of 5G.

Officials said they’d follow FCC guidelines on standards regarding radiofrequency radiation exposure.

Andrew Petersohn, a consultant with dBM Engineering, told the legislative body this week that radiation levels in the city would remain “below 1 percent of what the FCC deems safe.”

“We’re using a lot less power. Just because it’s 5G doesn’t make it much different than the technologies before,” he said.

Verizon’s plan includes installing 125 towers throughout the city to help deploy the 5G technology, Jones said. Small cell nodes the size of a backpack can be affixed to existing infrastructure, such as utility poles, making the installation process “seamless,” Jones said.

Under the proposed licensing arrangement, Verizon would pay a $500 onetime application fee for five “small wireless facilities” and additional $100 thereafter for each wireless facility. Verizon also agreed to pony up $1,000 for each new pole required to support the small wireless facilities.

AT&T Inc. would pay $270 “per wireless installation” in the city, per the contract.

The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 limits the city’s authority to regulate placement of 5G cell towers.

The towers, while exempted from zoning approvals, would still be reviewed by the city’s construction division before being installed throughout Trenton, Jones said, adding the city would receive a licensing fee for the towers and would work with the local preservation society to ensure the towers don’t detract from the capital city’s historic appeal.

If the deals are ultimately approved, it would make Trenton the third city in the Garden State to roll out 5G.

Mayor Reed Gusciora has said he favors bringing the latest technology to New Jersey’s capital.

The decision comes months after the legislative body sought a citywide ban on 5G towers over unfounded conspiracies that it hastens the spread of COVID-19.

The council drafted an ordinance that would’ve banned construction of antennae, towers and “similar structures that employ camouflage technology” in Trenton under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, but it never went forward after The Trentonian wrote about it.