Earlier this week, Austin Tech Alliance sent letters to the Austin Mayor and City Council regarding the City’s permitting of small cells, technology that will bring 5G – the next generation of high-speed wireless service.
Signed by 144 Austin tech employees, entrepreneurs, and executives, the letters urge City leaders to find ways to speed up the permitting process to help bring more small cell technology to our community.
As the letters points out:
Austin has worked too hard to see its place as a tech leader fade due to delays in processing small cell permits. It is critical that Austin maintain our reputation as a technology leader, as other cities across Texas and the country may leave us behind if we do not support 5G technology. Not only will 5G become the standard that residents and visitors come to expect, but entrepreneurs and companies with the next big idea in mobile technology will demand it.
5G technology is also important to the future of our entire community, not just the tech sector. 5G will increase capacity to provide more reliable cellular service, close the health equity gap by powering improvements in telehealth like remote surgery and remote clinical services, and support smart city technologies that will move people and goods more safely and efficiently. Plus, it will help to enable technologies that the City of Austin is already planning for, including autonomous delivery bots and the shared, electric, autonomous mobility future.
It’s critical for Austin’s tech sector and the entire community that Austin get access to the benefits of the 5G future. That’s why facilitating the introduction of 5G is part of ATA’s local policy agenda.
See below for the full text of the letters and the list of signers.
Text of the letters and signers:
Dear Mayor and Council Members:
We write you as employees, entrepreneurs, and executives from Austin’s thriving tech sector who are discouraged to learn that Austin is falling behind other cities in deploying technology that will bring 5G to its residents and visitors.
5G is the fifth generation of wireless network technology that will bring faster, more reliable connections by increasing download speeds up to 10 gigabits per second and offering a latency as low as 1 millisecond – vastly faster than the 40-60 milliseconds available via 4G networks. In order to roll out 5G, small cells need to be installed, as they are an essential part of eventual 5G deployment. Small cells are radio equipment and antennas that are much smaller than traditional cell towers, as their name implies. Around the size of a pizza box, they are often placed on street lights, the sides of buildings, or utility poles.
But Austin is behind in small cells permitting. A recent Texas Senate hearing revealed that amongst the major metropolitan areas in the state, Houston had approved 548 small cell permit applications, Dallas had approved 288, and Austin had approved only two.
Austin has worked too hard to see its place as a tech leader fade due to delays in processing small cell permits. It is critical that Austin maintain our reputation as a technology leader, as other cities across Texas and the country may leave us behind if we do not support 5G technology. Not only will 5G become the standard that residents and visitors come to expect, but entrepreneurs and companies with the next big idea in mobile technology will demand it.
5G technology is also important to the future of our entire community, not just the tech sector. 5G will increase capacity to provide more reliable cellular service, close the health equity gap by powering improvements in telehealth like remote surgery and remote clinical services, and support smart city technologies that will move people and goods more safely and efficiently. Plus, it will help to enable technologies that the City of Austin is already planning for, including autonomous delivery bots and the shared, electric, autonomous mobility future.
We encourage the City of Austin to find ways to speed up its permitting process to help bring more small cell technology to our city. Austin should be a city built for the future, and small cells will play an important role in making that happen. Thank you for your continued commitment to our community.
Sincerely,
Dan Graham
Sarah Ortiz Shields
David Edmonson
Kyle Hoskins
Youssef Chaker
Jada Fraser
Scott Dunaway
Cait Lower
Tom Hadfield
Lauren Brown
Bryan Jones
Jamie Catanach
Josh Jones-Dilworth
Peter Teneriello
Peter Harris
Joe Midura
Tracy LaQuey Parker
Ruby Ku
Quinn Sanders
Erin Defosse
Drew Dodson
Rudy Prince
Eric Van Hensbergen
Sharron Rush
Darren Bates
Joshua Baer
Faraaz Ismail
Arlo Gilbert
Bill Kleinebecker
Jeff Root
Lyle Pratt
Hugh Forrest
Selene Arrazolo
Daniel Venuto
Michael Boyle
Todd Trenasty
Steve Vandegrift
Mark Becerra, Sr.
Anthony Blatner
Scott Lipton
Eduardo Velasco
David Wigdahl
Joshua Rudow
Brent Wistrom
Chelsea Collier
Walt Roloson
Tony Tiritilli
Jaime Pierce
Victoria O’Dell
Jennifer Houlihan
Shawn Toler
Catherine Taylor
Preethi Rajgopal
Grace Vroom
Derek Deskins
Kalyan Banerjee
Elijah Roden
Pete Gilcrease
Landon Morales
Patrick Curry
Chris Palmisano
Jason Garrett
Aaron Emrich
Pawel Domas
Doug McAdoo
Michelle Pape
Matt Glazer
Stephania Lara
Nguyen Chau
Charles Hedlin
Greg Jarmiolowski
Liz Coufal
Allison Meskill
Ruben Morales
Jeffrey Clark
Erin Badley
John Iracheta
Damon Clinkscales
Aaron Leist
Slade Harrell
Kate Trumpower
Daniel Ornelas
TJ Fowler
Shane Adams
Philip Flesher
Rob Kirkey
Sergio de la Cruz
Judah Ross
Matt Miller
Bennett Rehmert
Lu Yan
Joseph Lopez
Doug Schaaf
Justin Gargiulo
Richard Hall
David Hitt
Wendy Howell
Haseeb Abdullah
Kris Potrafka
Genivieve Glynn
Jonathan Spillman
Ian Meron
Greg Braswell
Juanita Budd
Sherri Greenberg
Russell Buyse
Valerie Lara
Nick Hammond
Carolee Mitchell
Jacob Phillips
Justin Newlin
Jason Stoddard
Tim Thompson
Mike Bousquet
Carlos Rodriguez
Nate Jaffee
James Walker
Lindsay Bailey
Gaby DeLeon
Kevin Haggard
Eric Magnuson
Richard Greenwalt
Deirdre Walsh
Cori Cates
Jackie Padgett
Brittany Baize
Sara Mitran
Kaley Coffield
Zach Walker
Christopher Williams
Chris Garcia
Bryan Vannoy
Aaron Cooke
Eric Voss
Jay Holland
Thomas Miranda
Doug Howell
Bernardo Vallarino
Padmanabha Pavan Kumar Tallavajhula
Andrea Bradford
Chandra Nelogal
Erin Burget
Jo Cassandra Cuevas
Thomas Monclova