The City understands the need to ensure aesthetic appeal and has developed standard details to address aesthetic concerns.  These standards can be found in the City’s Small Cell Wireless Application form.

The small cell wireless facilities are primarily intended to serve customers of wireless carriers licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate in California, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. These companies are authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to install and operate the wireless facilities on behalf of their wireless carrier customers.

The increased use of smartphones, tablets, wearables, and other wireless devices in everyday life relies on a robust wireless network. Small cell wireless facilities will add capacity to existing wireless networks and improve in-building coverage in Mountain View. Residents can also expect improved voice quality, reliability, and data speeds for residential, commercial, first responder, and visitor use of the wireless networks. 

Most carriers are transitioning from 4G to 5G networks. However, since many consumers are still using 4G/LTE networks, which were introduced to the public in 2009, carriers will be installing both 4G and 5G small cell facilities. Typically, 4G small cell facilities have one antenna mounted at the top of the pole, while a 5G facility will include three antennas installed near the top of the pole.

5G is the 5th generation of mobile communication standards.  But unlike 4G technology, which primarily relies on larger macro antennas or cells to send and receive wireless signals at relatively low frequencies, 5G will generally operate on higher frequencies in the radio spectrum, which will require more locations (cells) to allow the carrier to reuse the frequencies more efficiently and to reduce the number of users attempting to access a particular cell. Cell signals are repeated from larger macro antennas by small cells to increase coverage and efficiency. 5G has significantly faster data transmission rates compared to 4G and reduced “latency” or time lag between when a signal is sent and when it is received. 

Small cell wireless facilities can be located in public rights-of-way and most are installed on existing wooden utility poles and City of Mountain View streetlights. 

The majority of wood utility poles in Mountain View are owned and maintained by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) or AT&T. The steel streetlight poles are owned and maintained by the City of Mountain View.

In September 2018, the FCC issued an order that imposed new limits on state and local government authority to regulate based on aesthetics, shorten review time frames, and establish a new standard of review for courts that favored wireless providers. In response, the City published the Application Process and Design and Location Standards for Small Cell Facilities within Public Right-Of-Way in April 2019. The application instructions provide a guideline for the design and location standards of new small cell wireless facilities in Mountain View.

No. Installation of small cell facilities on existing street light poles are categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to sections 15301, 15302, and 15303 of the Guidelines for CEQA.

Wireless carriers have proposed and installed similar small cell networks in cities throughout the Bay Area and across the United States.

Yes. However, carriers are encouraged to install facilities on existing wood utility poles or City streetlights. Any new poles (although rare) will look and operate like any other streetlight with a retrofitted small cell wireless facility.  Public Works generally allows small cell facilities to be retrofitted onto existing poles. However, pole replacements are sometimes needed to ensure the pole can handle the load of the proposed small cell equipment.

The installation of the antennas and equipment on the pole and painting (if needed to match equipment to the pole) can be accomplished in a few days. Additional work may be required at sidewalk level to connect power and fiber-optic cables (used to transmit signals) to the pole-mounted equipment and antennas.  The timeframe between permit application to construction completion of a small cell wireless facility typically lasts between 6 to 9 months but could take longer.

Some wireless facilities feature cooling fans within the equipment enclosures to regulate the temperature for the computers inside. As such, some of the cooling fans may generate noise, but each small cell facility is required to comply with the City’s Noise Ordinance.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in consultation with numerous other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has developed safety standards for small cells. The standards were developed by expert scientists and engineers after extensive reviews of the scientific literature related to radio frequency (RF) and biological effects. The FCC explains that its standards, “incorporate prudent margins of safety” and further adds that, “radio frequency emissions from antennas used for cellular and PCS transmissions result in exposure levels on the ground that are typically thousands of times below safety limits.”

The FCC provides more information about the safety of RF emissions from wireless telecommunications facilities on its website

Furthermore, the City has established requirements for the applicant to prepare a Postconstruction Activation Report after the small cell facilities have been installed. The Activation Report shall provide confirming information that the facility will not cause any potential exposure to RF emissions that exceed the adopted FCC standard for human exposure and that noise emissions comply with City requirements. Any sites with noncompliant test results shall be immediately turned off (shut down) or removed and the applicant shall submit a plan indicating strategies on how the noncompliant facility will be mitigated.

On average, these systems have an approximate range of 500 feet due to their low mounting height and low power output (either 66, 100, or 174 watts). A number of factors dictate the range of small cells, including objects that can potentially block the signals such as trees or buildings. For comparison purposes, a typical “macro” facility, with higher power usage (e.g. 10,000+ watts), and a higher mounting location, can have a range of a mile or two.

Small cells typically emit radio frequency (RF) energy. This is a non-ionizing radiation that does not have enough energy to break chemical bonds. Scientists came to a consensus that non-ionizing radiation is non-carcinogenic and at the levels limited by the FCC, non-ionizing radiations is not harmful to people. When people hear the word radiation, they’re generally thinking of ionizing radiation, like X-rays and gamma rays. Ionizing radiation has enough energy to break chemical bonds, knock electrons out of atoms, and cause direct damage to cells in organic matter. For more information on RF energy, please visit the FDA website at: https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/home-business-and-entertainment-products/cell-phones

No. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides federal guidelines for the regulation of human exposure to RF emissions from certain devices that transmit RF emissions. Section 704 of the Act states that, “No state or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Commission’s regulations concerning such emission.”  (47 U.S.C. §332(c)(7)(B)(iv).)  More information is available from the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and in the Local Government Official’s Guide to Transmitting Antenna RF Emission Safety (PDF).

The FCC, along with other agencies like the EPA, FDA, and OSHA, has developed safety standards. The FCC explains that its standards incorporate prudent margins of safety. It explains further that radio frequency emissions from antennas used for cellular and PCS transmissions result in exposure levels on the ground that are typically thousands of times below safety limits. The FCC provides information about the safety of RF emissions from wireless telecommunications facilities on its website. 

The following study was performed that evaluated the impacts of small cell to residential properties:

• Joint Venture Silicon Valley "Economic Impacts to Residential Real Estate from Small Wireless Facilities"

The study determined that there is zero evidence that small wireless communication facilities negatively impact residential values.  In fact, properties within a 10km radius a small cell facility saw an increase in property value.

More information on RF emissions and health concerns please see the following resources:

• Local Government Official’s Guide to Transmitting Antenna RF Emission Safety: Rules, Procedures and Practical Guidance: https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/FCC_LSGAC_RF_Guide.pdf
• FCC: https://www.fcc.gov/general/radio-frequency-safety-0
• FDA: https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/home-business-and-entertainment-products/cell-phones
• California Department of Public Health Advisory on Cell Phones: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/EHIB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Cell-Phone-Guidance.pdf
• U.S. Department of Labor OSHA: https://www.osha.gov/radiofrequency-and-microwave-radiation/health-effects

If you have further questions and concerns regarding small cells, please contact the City’s Public Works Department at (650) 903-6311 or via e-mail at public.works@mountainview.gov.