This complex and lengthy bill provides as close to unfettered access to county and municipal rights of way (ROW) as possible for wireless providers to construct unlimited wireless support structures/poles (50' high, or 10' taller than any existing pole within 500'), antennas (up to 6 cubic feet), equipment boxes (up to 28 cubic feet) and other infrastructure in order to roll out 5G service in metropolitan areas.  The bill limits or preempts a broad range of county decisions regarding: wireless structures within and outside public ROW, collocation of small wireless facilities, zoning reviews for cell towers and wireless support structures, modifications to wireless facilities outside public ROW, location of wireless facilities on local government owned utility poles, and county jurisdiction over small wireless facilities on private property. For example, HB 535 would bar local governments from subjecting certain wireless facilities to zoning review and approval, limit fees that counties and cities could impose for permitting, regulating and managing access to public ROW by wireless companies, and impose unrealistic shot clocks for counties to make decisions regarding various wireless facilities; otherwise the applications are "deemed approved". In addition, the bill would prohibit counties from requiring that wireless providers indemnify and hold the county harmless against claims arising from negligent acts of the provider and does not provide that these structures be removed or relocated, at provider expense, for road widening, maintenance or emergency situations. Lastly, counties can only deny a permit for this infrastructure if it violates stipulations in the bill... which are slim to none.  

This legislation authorizes EMCs to provide broadband service, VoIP, wireless services and other emerging communications technologies within their service areas and a 5-mile radius thereof.  EMCs would be allowed to accept state, federal and private grants loans to fund this endeavor, but cannot cross-subsidize their broadband services from their electric or natural gas funds. To do this, EMCs must provide nondiscriminatory, competitively neutral and commercially reasonable terms, conditions and access to their utility poles for other communications service providers.      

Originally, this was the wireless industry's attempt to preempt local management of the public's right of way.  The bill was changed in House Rules Committee to allow EMCs and rural telephone cooperatives to provide broadband service to rural areas under certain conditions.