Yesterday Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act with U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii and ranking member of its communications subcommittee. The bill is aimed at speeding up the transition to 5G by streamlining administrative processes for the deployment of small cells. The text of the legislation is not yet available on the congressional site, but according to Politico, “the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act would impose a shot clock of between 60 and 90 days for state, local and tribal governments to decide on wireless companies' requests to install small-cell infrastructure, critical for 5G. If a government takes too long to consider an application, it would be automatically approved. All fees municipalities charge for broadband infrastructure would have to reflect real costs.”
LGBT Tech has spoken in the past about the importance of launching newer technologies to close he digital divide and 5G has the potential to transform technology access to unserved and underserved communities such as the LGBTQ community by helping to close the homework gap and allow individuals to access basic services. Our country, especially minority communities like the LGBTQ community cannot afford to fall behind in the technology race when adequate access to reliable fast technology can impact everything from healthcare, education, economic opportunities or finding a safe community online and could make a huge difference between being success and failure in everyday life. LGBT Tech will review the text of the bill once published and assess its impact on the promise of 5G technology and its impact on the LGBTQ community.