and businesses, especially as demand for these services continues to grow. In addition, small cell and fiber network upgrades will provide more reliable access to police, fire and emergency medical teams serving a given area. Right now, communications services providers are in a race to deploy the infrastructure necessary to meet the insatiable demand for emergency managers. When you consider how important winning this race is to Florida’s future, it’s obvious that we must prioritize pathways to deploy more infrastructure at a faster rate. There connectivity from Florida’s residents, businesses, and are two paths by which we can accomplish this important goal. First, we must continue to work with our partners at the local and state levels of government to prioritize communications infrastructure deployment by
simplifying permitting processes. The Governor and Florida Legislature were one of the first to recognize the importance of this by passing the Advanced Wireless Infrastructure Deployment Act of 2017 and 2019, which has been a valuable tool to help Florida realize connectivity upgrades and attract communications investments into our communities. Second, we must innovate in terms of how fiber and other shared communications infrastructure elements are deployed. Simply put, the traditional ways of construction inhibit our ability to meet the growing demand for data. The current standard for deploying the fiber that feeds a network of small cells may involve disruptive, noisy and complicated underground construction, such as open trenching or boring, that require extended traffic disruptions and street / sidewalk closures. Meanwhile, there
are new and innovative fiber construction methods utilizing shallow and trenchless methods of construction that are safer, simpler, quieter, and significantly less disruptive. This “one-two-punch” of modernizing the permitting process and speeding up the way in which vital communications infrastructure is deployed will ensure Florida is able to meet the connectivity demands of its growing population while also staying ahead of the curve when it comes to economic competitiveness. Said another way: Faster and more advanced permitting + faster and more advanced deployment = greater connectivity for all in the Sunshine State.
continued on page 26 » Florida Technology Magazine – 2024 Fall Edition – 25
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