Mayor Sylvester Turner today accepted the 5G Wireless Champion Award from CTIA, the wireless industry association.

The mayor was honored for his commitment to fostering an environment that encourages wireless industry investment and accelerates the deployment of 5G in Houston.

The 5G Wireless Champion is awarded in recognition of Mayor Turner’s leadership in ensuring that the City of Houston removes constraints on the industry’s ability to deploy small cells – the modern wireless infrastructure that enable 5G networks. “Houston will be one of the first cities in the world to deploy 5G thanks to our commitment to removing barriers to wireless industry investment and business growth,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “5G will be a game changer for the City of Houston, helping us move ahead of other cities in digital innovation and bringing progress and economic growth.”

“Mayor Turner understands how the right government policies bring investment and opportunity to the City of Houston,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, President and CEO of CTIA. “Thanks to his leadership, Houston is positioned to benefit from the innovations and breakthroughs that next-generation 5G networks will bring.”

Small cells are about the size of a backpack and are installed on utility poles, streetlights, and the sides of buildings. Small cells can be installed in about an hour, but in areas with rules designed for 200-foot cell towers, can take more than a year to get approval. The wireless industry will need to deploy hundreds of thousands of modern wireless antennas – small cells – in the next few years to keep up with increasing consum er demand for wireless data and to build out new 5G networks.

Under Mayor Turner’s leadership, Houston has streamlined the permitting process by not requiring a license or attachment agreement for new poles or small cells, and completes review ahead of deadlines. Houston is among the fastest at reviewing and approving permits and leads all cities in Texas with 548 permit approvals since September 1st 2017.

According to Accenture, the wireless industry will invest $275 billion to deploy 5G networks across the U.S., generating 3 million new jobs and $500 billion in economic growth.

Reducing timelines to deploy 5G by 12 months will generate an additional $100 billion in economic growth.
In Houston, Accenture estimates that the industry wil invest $1.9 billion, generate more than twenty thousand jobs and $3.5 billion in economic growth.

For more, read a Q&A with Mayor Turner here: https://www.ctia.org/news/qa-with-5g-wire-less-champion-houston-may-or-sylvester-turner.