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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Organizations under the U.S. Census Bureaus NAICS classification system.
The SBA small business size standard for this industry classifies a business as small if it has $8 million or less in annual receipts. U.S. Census Bureau 2012 data for this industry show that there were 18,347 firms that operated for the entire year. Of that number, 17,818 firms operated with annual receipts of less than $5 million per year, while 382 firms operated with annual receipts between $5 million and $9,999,999 million. Therefore, based on the SBAs size standard the majority of Property Owners Associations are small firms in this industry.
E. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements for Small Entities 56. The revisions to the OTARD rule do not impose any new or additional reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance obligations. However, the number of entities subject to the rules protections may expand because of the Commissions actions. The revisions also will not require small entities to hire attorneys, engineers, consultants, or other professionals to comply with the rule changes. Instead, the Commission expect the changes adopted in the Report and Order will have a beneficial impact on small entities. More specifically, the revisions will allow small fixed wireless providers to install fixed wireless hub and relay antennas more quickly and efficiently and at lower cost by expanding the class of providers whose antennas are subject to regulatory protections, although the Commission cannot quantify the magnitude of these cost savings.
Further, the OTARD rule revisions will reduce construction timelines for new fixed wireless sites and reduce barriers to entry, which may result in more small entities utilizing the OTARD
rules protections and installing fixed wireless equipment.
57. By ensuring that State, local, and private restrictions do not delay or impede the installation of fixed wireless hub or relay antennas, the Commissions actions will benefit small as well as other fixed wireless providers by creating more siting opportunities and spurring investment in and deployment of wireless infrastructure.
Communications services will become more readily available in unserved, underserved, and rural areas furthering the Commissions efforts to address the digital divide.

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F. Steps Taken To Minimize the Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered 58. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant, specifically small business, alternatives that it has considered in reaching its approach, which may include the following four alternatives among others: 1 the establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the resources available to small entities; 2 the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for such small entities; 3 the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and 4 an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for such small entities.
59. In the Report and Order, the Commission revises its OTARD rule to expand its coverage to include hub and relay antennas that are used for the distribution of fixed wireless services to multiple customer locations, regardless of whether they are primarily used for this purpose, so long as the antennas serve a customer on whose premises they are located. By revising the OTARD
rule to reflect the current technological landscape, the Commissions actions should reduce the economic impact for small entities that deploy fixed hub and relay antennas by reducing the costs and time associated with the deployment of such infrastructure.
60. Comments filed by the Wireless internet Service Providers Association WISPA which represents fixed wireless providersincluding small providers serving rural and underserved areas, supports the Commissions revision of the OTARD rule stating that, extending the OTARD rules to fixed wireless hub and relay antennas would spur infrastructure deployment, including deployment of networks that involve local relaying in rural and other underserved areas and deployment by small providers. MJM Telecom a small internet service provider and WISPA
member indicated that under the current OTARD rules, we have had to turn down thousands of potential customers due to the fact that we cannot put up a small relay hub site, and requested that the Commission adopted the revision to the OTARD rules proposed in the Notice and adopted in the Report and Order. With the OTARD
rule change, the Commission has removed hurdles to siting which imposed barriers to entry, investment and deployment for fixed wireless providers which is a major step to level
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the playing field for these providers.
Reduced costs and removal of barriers to entry coupled with the opportunity for expansion into unserved and underserved service areas and increased customer revenues for fixed wireless providers hold the promise of a beneficial economic impact for small entities.
61. Some commenters have concerns about an increase in certain costssuch as aesthetics e.g., too many antennas on a property and disruption of existing contracts between wireless providers and property owners. These commenters argued that the current OTARD rule should be maintained. In considering these arguments, the Commission determined that the demonstrable economic benefits of the rule outweigh the economic costs, which are negligible to the extent such costs can be substantiated. First, the revision will enhance the ability of small and other fixed wireless service providers to deliver reliable high speed internet access to a greater number of unserved or underserved customers.
And there will be fewer restrictions on the antennas that customers nationwide will be able to place on a property they control. The OTARD rule revision will also protect small and other fixed wireless broadband providers from unreasonable delays in the installation of fixed wireless hub and relay antennas or the unreasonable prevention of such installations or deployments. It will also provide small and other fixed wireless service providers with protections against unreasonable fees for the installation of hub and relay antennas.
Further, the prohibition against restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance or use of covered antennas will provide small and other fixed wireless providers certainty and predictability. In addition, the Commission determined that the revision will promote competition by allowing more small and other fixed wireless providers to deploy in areas where it would not otherwise be economically feasible and to serve underserved communities such as rural areas, which is consistent with Commission policy and in the public interest.
62. The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors NATOA, the National League of Cities NLC, and the National Association of Regional Councils NARC, jointly the Municipal Organizations who members include small local governments, cities, and towns, opposed the OTARD rule change and provided some alternative suggestions, which
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