CNET: 5G is coming, but not everyone is happy about it

5G is coming, but not everyone is happy about it

Despite the promises of better wireless service, the prospect of more antennas on city streets is prompting one California neighborhood to fight Verizon and the FCC.

Kent German, c|net, Oct 19, 2018

Early in April, residents of Oakmore, a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes in Oakland, California, received an ordinary-looking envelope from a company called OnAir. Inside was a flyer inviting them to an open house where Verizon would tell them how it expects to install 16 new wireless antennas in the area....


Excerpts
Shortly after the open house, Schroeder and a few other neighbors formed the Oakmore Neighborhood Advocacy Group to take on the issue. Though the group doesn't have a set membership, she meets weekly in her home with an executive committee of eight people to plan strategy.

One of ONAG's first steps was to organize a second open house. Verizon representatives detailed the carrier's plans, Oakland city officials explained the antenna approval process and residents asked questions during an open forum. As the meeting ended, a long line of neighbors argued, sometimes passionately, against the antennas for more than an hour.

They pressed the panelists on a wide range of subjects, from whether wooden utility poles could withstand the 200-pound weight of a small cell -- not an insignificant concern in California, where downed power lines have caused devastating wildfires -- to whether wireless signals could disturb migratory birds. (The Verizon reps who attended the meeting declined to be interviewed for this story.)

ONAG member Dennis Cathey says the meeting helped inspire more neighbors to get behind the group.

"By the end of the meeting, [the Verizon reps] were squirming in their seats and having problems answering questions," he says. "I thought it was very useful for our cause. It put Verizon on notice that we want to know more about what you plan to do."


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