An AT&T cell tower on North Stone Avenue and East University Boulevard.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Joe Salkowski Specail to Arizona Daily Star
The following column contains the author’s opinion and analysis:
As a customer-built company, Tucson Electric Power naturally focuses on collaboration – an approach that was recently misrepresented in a statement.
Our local power grid connects every home and business in our community to the energy resources that support modern life. While our system includes a lot of devices that most people never see, it also requires the poles and wires that run through all local jurisdictions.
Because these facilities share the space everyone uses, we work with local governments and other service providers to protect public safety and mitigate the negative impact of the required infrastructure – even if that infrastructure belongs to someone else.
For example, many of the wires attached to TEP’s poles are owned by telecommunications companies. We also allow telecommunications providers to install mobile network devices on our masts. As long as these facilities do not compromise the safety and reliability of our service, we are happy to host them.
These accommodations aren’t just corporate citizenship; Federal law requires them. In accordance with these laws, TEP develops standardized agreements with applicants and promptly responds to all co-location requests with details detailing the costs they would incur for upgrades required to enable their installations.
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