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Wireless Consumers Alliance Helps San Diego Community Take On Sprint - And Win
( EMAILWIRE.COM, May 10, 2004 ) SAN DIEGO, CA - In a unanimous vote on Cinco de Mayo, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted overwhelmingly in favor of the community of Rancho Santa Fe and against cellular giant Sprint. The board ruled for an environmental-impact study that takes into account the cumulative effect of cellular poles and antennas within communities. The board's decision disallows the cellular company from invading future neighborhoods with its creeping single-site antenna-takeover strategy. The win for Rancho Santa Fe - and for every community, for that matter - is a big one. "Sprint has been getting its way on the argument that it could apply for sites one by one," explains Carl Hilliard, president of Wireless Consumers Alliance, the grass roots nonprofit group that supported Rancho Santa Fe in its battle against Sprint. In her presentation to the board of supervisors, Rancho Santa Fe board member, Holly Manion, focused on the shortsighted danger of considering cellular sites on an individual basis. She urged the board to consider the impact of any site against a background of existing and future sites. The issue of insidiously growing cell sites obviously struck a chord with the board. Pam Slater-Price noted that the sites are "creeping up everywhere. They look like poisonous toadstools after a rain." She added, "They're just willy-nilly, one's here, one is there… and I think that there really has to be a better way to integrate cellular service in communities so that it can be used but not abused." Rancho Santa Fe had been working to prevent such a willy-nilly jumble. The community specified sites that enabled the cellular providers to cover the Ranch adequately, yet did not have an adverse effect on the community landscape. Of the current seven cellular providers, six agreed to the Rancho Santa Fe plan. The only dissenting voice was Sprint's. Sprint found a loophole - a very early California statute that provides free use of the public right of way - and argued that a single site should not be considered part of the system. The San Diego County Planning Commission sided with Sprint, approving the Rancho Santa Fe site. Rancho Santa Fe appealed to the board of supervisors, disputing the reasonableness of evaluating cell sites one at a time. The appeal also pointed out that by allowing the single Sprint site in the public right-of-way, a precedent could be set for every other wireless provider to do the same. According to Wireless Consumer's Hilliard, today's unanimous vote against Sprint set a different kind of precedent. "Sprint can't run roughshod over communities anymore," the wireless consumer activist says. "Rancho Santa Fe's winning challenge will echo for a long time to come." Wireless Consumers Alliance is the cellular industry watchdog, lobbying on behalf of consumers from local venues to the national scene. The organization's Web site offers regularly updated wireless consumer news and alerts - www.wirelessconsumers.org. For further information, contact Carl Hilliard, president, Wireless Consumers Alliance (858) 481-7200 carl@wirelessconsumers.org
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