About this Testimony: The Board of Trade has been a strong supporter of small cell infrastructure deployment in Washington D.C. to expand 5G internet access, which will provide better wireless service for first responders, allow for better education resources for students, and help grow community connectivity. On July 18, Danial Flores, GWBOT’s Vice President of Government Relations, submitted a testimony at D.C. Council’s Public Space Committee hearing. 

Good morning and thank you to the Public Space Committee for allowing me to testify this morning on the importance of small cells in Washington, D.C.

My name is Daniel Flores, Vice President, Government Relations. I’m speaking today on behalf of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, which represents all industry sectors in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and northern Virginia. For over 130 years, we have prided ourselves on our non-partisan commitment to the businesses that make our region thrive.

One of our top priorities as an organization is to support innovative solutions that improve our economy here in the DMV – and we believe that the proposal under consideration is one of those innovative solutions.

Considering we’re all joining this meeting via Zoom this morning, we all know just how important connectivity is to conducting business in our modern world. Innovative technology and connectivity have been proven to create better access to health, transportation, education and more.

But in pockets of the DMV, particularly high-traffic areas like downtown D.C., it can sometimes be hard to access cellular service. We commend the Public Space Committee for taking action in 2019 to allow the installation of small cells on existing infrastructure, but more must be done to ensure that all of D.C. has ready access to cell service.

The proposal before the Public Space Committee would allow small cells to be installed as standalone poles. An estimated 80 poles are needed to greatly improve connectivity throughout the District, and these poles would be as unobtrusive as the light poles or the Capital Bike Share stands we have all grown used to seeing throughout the city. This commonsense solution doesn’t even cost any taxpayer funding; rather, the carriers will cover the costs of installing the small cells and bringing greater connectivity to the District. It’s a win for businesses, for residents, for visitors, and for our government.

Without the installation of new small cells, D.C. runs the risk of falling behind in today’s digital economy at time when mobile data consumption is growing exponentially. Average monthly mobile data usage in North America is expected to grow by 216% per smartphone by 2028, and 5G networks will carry an estimated 69% of total mobile data traffic. Wireless “smart cities” will see $160 billion in benefits and savings through things like lower energy use and congestion. Throughout the United States, 5G connectivity is expected to drive up sales by $2.7 trillion and add up to $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP by 2025. Closer to home, the 5G economy is estimated to provide over $8.6 billion in economic benefits to D.C. and over 23,000 jobs.

The Greater Washington Board of Trade urges the Public Space Committee to approve the installation of standalone small cells throughout the District. Thank you for your consideration.

The Board of Trade is excited to begin 2024, expanding upon previous years’ work with new and varied policy and advocacy efforts. In 2023, we substantially expanded its policy footprint in the region by adding staff members Kyle McColgan, SVP of Policy, and Tyler Kirby, Policy Analyst, in addition to Daniel Flores, VP of Government Relations. In the coming year, the Board of Trade will be bringing Holland & Knight on board to represent the Board of Trade in the District of Columbia in a continuation of 2023’s efforts working with McGuireWoods Consulting and G.S. Proctor & Associates in Virginia and Maryland respectively. We worked to expand upon its convening role through programs like the Regional Policy Leadership Series and the Capital Region Transportation Forum, which brought together transportation leaders from across the region in conversation with our members, facilitating regionalism and collaboration between the private and public sectors to address concerns around talent acquisition and retention and the long-term viability and sustainability of public transportation.  

The coming year will see the Board of Trade focus on fostering regional collaboration and cooperation to overcome mounting funding difficulties within the region, allowing for necessary changes that will preserve and better the business environment. Only through addressing the interrelated issues of crime, downtown revitalization, and the success and long-term sustainability of regional public transit will the region’s unrivaled resources, especially the quality and size of its workforce and unique relationship with the federal government, continue to bolster the region, keeping it near the apex of the market. 

The ability of the region’s business environment to compete with emerging competitor cities around the nation rests on the ability of its jurisdictions to work together, not only with one another but with the private sector. Only through collaboration can the region address many of its endemic problems, now being brought to the fore as the world experiences unprecedented economic and political shocks and tectonic shifts, which fundamentally change the shape of the local, national, and international economies. As work from home becomes more engrained in post-pandemic work culture, the region must reimagine how commercial real estate incentivizes regional residents to remain in and move to the region’s core. Doing so will require a multimodal approach that addresses long-term funding issues for WMATA and significant road projects like the American Legion Bridge, distressing crime trends that depress tourism and recreation within the district, and necessary improvement to the region’s general business environment to incentivize investment and disrupt negative emigration trends among the most desirable young professionals out of the region.   

With legislative sessions in Virginia and Maryland underway, the Board of Trade will continue to advocate for maintaining and improving the region’s business environment, connecting policymakers and leaders with one another and with the region’s business community. Collaboration across sectors, private and public, and across jurisdictional boundaries, remains necessary for this continued elevated status of the Greater Washington region, nationally and internationally. Only through intersectoral and inter-jurisdictional communication can we expect a risk-averse and sometimes slow-moving region to adapt to the new, constantly changing environment, and maintain its appeal and competitiveness relative to the nations and the world’s emergent competitor markets.