Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 23 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND REGULATED INDUSTRIES (§§ 23-1-101 — 23-119-105) › Subtitle 1 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS (§§ 23-1-101 — 23-19-210) › Chapter 17 - TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANIES (§§ 23-17-101 — 23-17-517) › Subchapter 5 - SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY DEPLOYMENT ACT (§§ 23-17-501 — 23-17-517) › Section 23-17-503 - Definitions

As used in this subchapter:
(1)
"Affiliate" means an entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another party;
(2)
"Antenna" means communications equipment that transmits or receives an electromagnetic radio frequency signal in the provision of wireless service;
(3)
(A)
"Antenna equipment" means equipment, switches, wiring, cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabinets associated with an antenna, located at the same fixed location as the antenna, and when collocated on a structure is mounted or installed at the same time as the antenna.
(B)
"Antenna equipment" does not include:
(i)
The structure or improvements on, under, or within which the equipment is collocated; or
(ii)
Wireline backhaul facilities, coaxial or fiber optic cable that is between structures, or coaxial or fiber optic cable that is otherwise not immediately adjacent to or directly associated with an antenna;
(4)
"Antenna facility" means an antenna and associated antenna equipment;
(5)
"Applicable codes" means uniform electrical reliability, building, fire, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical codes, as adopted by a recognized national code organization, or local amendments to the codes that are of general application, or local ordinances that are of general application, that address public health, safety, or welfare and are consistent with this subchapter;
(6)
"Applicant" means a person who submits an application as or on behalf of a wireless provider;
(7)
"Application" means a request submitted by an applicant to an authority for a permit:
(A)
To collocate small wireless facilities; or
(B)
To install, modify, or replace a pole on which a small wireless facility is or will be collocated in the right-of-way;
(8)
(A)
"Authority" means a county, a municipality, a subdivision, or instrumentality thereof, including without limitation:
(i)
A public utility district;
(ii)
An irrigation district; or
(iii)
A municipal electric utility.
(B)
"Authority" does not include a state court having jurisdiction over an authority;
(9)
"Authority pole" means a pole owned, managed, or operated by or on behalf of an authority;
(10)
(A)
"Collocate" or "collocate on" means the placement, mounting, replacement, or modification of a small wireless facility on, or of ground-mounted antenna equipment adjacent to, a structure.
(B)
"Collocate" or "collocate on" includes collocated ground-mounted antenna equipment as a small wireless facility if it meets the requirements of subdivision (25)(A)(iii)-(vi) of this section and the associated facilities on the adjacent structure meet the requirements of subdivision (25)(A)(i)-(vi) of this section;
(11)
"Communications service" means:
(A)
A cable service, as defined in
47 U.S.C. § 522(6)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019;
(B)
A telecommunications service, as defined in
47 U.S.C. § 153(53)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019;
(C)
An information service, as defined in
47 U.S.C. § 153(24)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019; or
(D)
Wireless service;
(12)
"Communications service provider" means:
(A)
A cable operator, as defined in
47 U.S.C. § 522(5)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019;
(B)
A provider of information service, as defined in
47 U.S.C. § 153(24)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019;
(C)
A telecommunications carrier, as defined in
47 U.S.C. § 153(51)
; or
(D)
A wireless provider;
(13)
"Control" means the direct or indirect:
(A)
Ownership of at least fifty percent (50%) of the equity;
(B)
Ability to direct at least fifty percent (50%) of voting power; or
(C)
Ability otherwise to direct management policies;
(14)
"Controlled-access facility" means a highway or street as described in §
27-68-102
;
(15)
"Decorative pole" means an authority pole that is specifically designed and placed for aesthetic purposes and on which limited appurtenances or attachments, such as a small wireless facility, lighting, specially designed informational or directional signage, or temporary holiday or special event attachments, have been placed or are permitted to be placed according to nondiscriminatory authority rules or codes;
(16)
"Facility" means an antenna facility or a structure that is used for the provision of wireless service;
(17)
"Fee" means a onetime, nonrecurring charge;
(18)
"Historic district" means a group of buildings, properties, or sites that are:
(A)
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places or formally determined eligible for listing by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, according to Section VI.D.1.a.i-v of the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement Regarding the Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act Review Process, 47 C.F.R. Part 1, Appendix C, as it existed on January 1, 2019;
(B)
A historic district designated under the Historic Districts Act, §
14-172-201
et seq.; or
(C)
A historic district otherwise designated under a local ordinance as of January 1, 2019;
(19)
"Micro-wireless facility" means a wireless facility that:
(A)
Is not larger in dimension than twenty-four inches (24") in length, fifteen inches (15") in width, and twelve inches (12") in height;
(B)
Has an exterior antenna that is no longer than eleven inches (11"); and
(C)
Is not placed any farther than ten feet (10') down the span as measured from the side of the pole;
(20)
"Permit" means an authorization, written or otherwise, required by an authority to perform an action or initiate, continue, or complete a project for the deployment of wireless service at a specified location;
(21)
"Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, trust, authority, or other entity or organization;
(22)
(A)
"Pole" means a pole in a right-of-way that may be used by or for wireline communications, electric distribution, lighting, traffic control, signage, or a similar function or for collocation of small wireless facilities.
(B)
"Pole" does not include a wireless support structure or an electric transmission structure;
(23)
"Rate" means a recurring charge;
(24)
(A)
"Right-of-way" means an area on, below, or above a public utility easement, roadway, highway, street, sidewalk, alley, or similar property.
(B)
"Right-of-way" does not include a federal interstate highway, controlled-access facility, or a public utility easement that does not authorize the deployment sought by the wireless provider;
(25)
(A)
"Small wireless facility" means a wireless facility that meets all of the following specifications:
(i)
The facility:
(a)
Is mounted on a structure fifty feet (50') or less in height, including the antennas;
(b)
Is mounted on a structure no more than ten percent (10%) taller than other adjacent structures; or
(c)
Does not extend an existing structure on which it is located to a height of more than fifty feet (50') or by more than ten percent (10%), whichever is greater;
(ii)
Each antenna associated with the deployment, excluding associated antenna equipment, is no more than three cubic feet (3 cu. ft.) in volume;
(iii)
All other wireless equipment associated with the structure, including the wireless equipment associated with the antenna and any preexisting associated equipment on the structure, is no more than twenty-eight cubic feet (28 cu. ft.) in volume;
(iv)
The facility does not require antenna structure registration under 47 C.F.R. Part 17, as it existed on January 1, 2019;
(v)
The facility is not located on tribal lands, as defined in
36 C.F.R. 800.16(x)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019; and
(vi)
The facility does not result in human exposure to radio frequencies in excess of the applicable safety standards specified in
47 C.F.R. 1.1307(b)
, as it existed on January 1, 2019.
(B)
"Small wireless facility" does not include:
(i)
The structure or improvements on, under, or within which the equipment is located or collocated or to which the equipment is attached; and
(ii)
Any wireline backhaul facility or coaxial or fiber optic cable that is between wireless support structures or utility poles, or that is otherwise not immediately adjacent to or directly associated with a particular antenna;
(26)
"Structure" means a pole or wireless support structure, whether or not it has an existing antenna facility, that is used or to be used for the provision of wireless service;
(27)
"Technically feasible" means that by virtue of engineering or spectrum usage the proposed placement for a small wireless facility, or its design, concealment measures, or site location, can be implemented without a material reduction in the functionality of the small wireless facility;
(28)
"Wireless infrastructure provider" means a person or an affiliate thereof, including a person authorized to provide communications service in the state, that builds or installs facilities for the provision of wireless service, but that is not a wireless service provider;
(29)
"Wireless provider" means a wireless infrastructure provider or a wireless service provider;
(30)
"Wireless service" means any service using licensed or unlicensed spectrum, including the use of Wi-Fi, whether at a fixed location or mobile, provided to the public;
(31)
"Wireless service provider" means a person who provides wireless service;
(32)
(A)
"Wireless support structure" means a structure, including:
(i)
A monopole;
(ii)
A tower, either guyed or self-supporting;
(iii)
A billboard;
(iv)
A building; or
(v)
Any other existing or proposed structure designed to support or that is capable of supporting small wireless facilities, other than a structure designed solely for the collocation of small wireless facilities.
(B)
"Wireless support structure" does not include a pole; and
(33)
"Wireline backhaul facility" means an aboveground or underground facility used to transport communications services from a wireless facility to a network.
Added by Act 2019, No. 999,§ 1, eff. 9/1/2019.
Added by Act 2019, No. 797,§ 1, eff. 9/1/2019.