- The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) is getting ready for its annual Connect(X) convention May 12-14
- This year’s event will feature sessions on AI, programmable networks and open RAN
- But some old timey issues remain top of mind – namely, making the permitting process easier
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) is heading to Chicago for another installment of its Connect(X) program, which is May 12-14.
What’s new this year? The Connect(X) agenda includes all the topics you’d expect to find at a wireless infrastructure trade show: plenty of sessions on AI, satellite connectivity, programmable networks, open RAN and more. WIA expects to host about 3,500 attendees and more than 250 sponsors and exhibitors from all walks of wireless infra: wireless carriers, tower companies, equipment vendors and everyone that supports them.
And policy items on the agenda include some of the same issues that the industry has been grappling with for years. Take permitting, for example. Telecom operators have complained for decades about how onerous the process can be. It takes way too long and requires far too much red tape, delaying efforts to get networks like 5G more widely deployed.
Permit delays challenge buildouts
Relationships between industry and local governments have improved but permitting delays remain, according to WIA President and CEO Patrick Halley.
Because the permitting process is so tightly tied to spectrum, WIA is closely monitoring what’s happening in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers work through the budget reconciliation process. Halley said he expects spectrum will be addressed in the package.
“From a pure economic standpoint, having certainty that when you buy spectrum, you'll be able to put it to use as quickly as possible increases the value of the spectrum,” he told Fierce. “Therefore, we think [permitting] ought to be part of the budget reconciliation process, and that's something that we're pushing for.”
The budget is currently making its way through Congress, with the expectation that there will be a reconciliation package on the floor of the House the week of May 19. That will give WIA and its members plenty to discuss when they meet in Chicago the week of May 12.
Local permit pressures
The biggest permitting issues often occur at the local level. That’s where obtaining permits – modifying an existing cell site or building new infrastructure – can sometimes get bogged down.
And what plays in Fort Worth, Texas, doesn’t necessarily work in Boulder, Colorado. “Some jurisdictions are more challenging than others,” Halley said.
Federal lands are another example where permitting gets mired in bureaucracy. Those problems were supposed to be addressed in the American Broadband Deployment Act (ABDA), which passed the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee in May 2023 but failed to make it into law. Local government officials said it threatened their ability to manage public rights-of-way and that ABDA essentially amounted to a “giveaway” to telecom and cable providers.
WIA and other industry trade groups are pressing for Congress and the Trump administration to revive ABDA and put it into law.
“We're not against permitting. We think there's an important role for the local government,” Halley said. “We just want to make sure the process is predictable, proportionate and transparent.”
President Trump earlier this month issued an executive order to accelerate permitting. He mentioned projects such as roads, bridges, mines, factories, power plants “and others,” but didn’t specifically call out broadband.
Spectrum top of mind at WIA
Spectrum is closely tied to permitting and therefore sits high on WIA’s agenda.
WIA supports CTIA’s efforts to get a portion of the lower 3 GHz band allocated for wireless carriers to bid on when the FCC’s auction authority is restored. CTIA believes there’s a way to free up spectrum in the 3.3-3.45 GHz portion for full-power, licensed commercial spectrum in a manner that will protect U.S. military systems.
So far, the Department of Defense (DoD) hasn’t signed onto that concept, but Halley said he’s optimistic the Trump administration and Congress will find a way to free up some of the lower 3 GHz.
Tariff talk
Besides AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, WIA’s membership includes the three publicly traded tower companies: American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications. While tariffs are likely to affect handsets somehow, tariffs on steel are also expected to raise costs, as was the concern in the first Trump administration.
“Tariffs are clearly a bit of a moving target right now,” Halley said, noting that anything that increases the cost of supporting the ecosystem, whether it’s a tower or a handset, is not good for the industry.
On the other hand, “I think the wireless industry is so essential to consumers that I don’t think you’re going to see consumers move away from using the service due to price increases,” he said. “Demand will remain strong for our services.”
Right now, he doesn’t anticipate drastic changes to carriers’ buildout schedules.
“Everything I'm hearing is that the carriers are going to continue to be building out their networks and that they're going to continue to deploy consistent with where they were headed at the beginning of the year,” he said.
“I think we're going to see some increased activity in the second half of 2025 and I think we're going to see a lot of activity going forward in 2026,” he concluded.