Thousands of 5G wireless hotspots are set to be installed across Thousand Oaks, California, and neighboring Simi Valley. Although many residents object to the installations citing health concerns, an FCC law prevents them from doing much about it.
The FCC rule, 18-133, was put into effect last January. The rule strips certain cities of their rights to regulate 5G installs. In this case, 10 Ventura County municipalities fall under the rule and subject the areas to thousands of 5G installs. Unlike its predecessor, 4G, 5G requires a heavier density of network installs to be effective. This means more network towers, something many residents feels amounts to an unhealthy environment.
According to The Ventura County Star, the law classifies listed cities as “small wireless facilities.” The law’s intent is to create a publics right of way. It also ensures that cities and counties can’t stop wireless network installs based on health concerns. The League of California Cities is challenging the rule.
According to the FCC, the rule “prepares our national infrastructure for 5G … the next generation of wireless services.”
“To meet rapidly increasing demand for wireless services … providers must deploy infrastructure at significantly more locations using new, small cell facilities,” the FCC says.
5G Installs To Be Processed Without Public Notice
Attorney Jonathan Kramer says the new FCC rule means “4,000 to 5,000 new cell sites over the next five years in Thousand Oaks alone.” As it stands, Thousand Oaks has only 140 wireless sites. Simi Valley has 100.
5G networks will now be installed without public notice in some cities and counties.
“The small wireless facilities are coming, and an astounding number of them are coming,” Kramer said. “Certainly more than 10 times the number of cell sites you have in Simi today will be in the city within three to five years.”
Worse more, the rule translates into 5G wireless networks being “processed without public notice, hearings or appeals.” In other words, the people are extraordinarily limited in their ability to stop or slow 5G wireless network installs. And thousands of. installs are now on the horizon. The intent is to speed up the installs, but critics view it as a way to circumvent growing 5G network opposition.
“This is really shocking for Thousand Oaks because we pride ourselves on public notification, on listening to the residents, on the aesthetics,” Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña said. “And all of that is thrown out the window with these new requirements.”
5G Health Concerns Grow Nationwide
5G health risks are heavily debated. The FCC claims the reported health concerns are unfounded. But residents in cities across the country disagree. Portland’s mayor announced he would be blocking 5G network installs due to health concerns. Parents in San Joaquin, California claim that a single 5G tower is causing cancer in local schoolchildren.
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