On June 30, Gov. Tom Wolf signed Pennsylvania House Bill 1621, the Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act as Act 50 of 2021 (Act 50), into law. This act reflects years of negotiations between industry groups and municipalities over the balance of local land use authority and ease of deployment in small cell infrastructure deployment. Effective Aug. 29, the act standardizes the local permitting process for small cell facilities located within municipal rights-of-way.

As demand increases exponentially for faster and more reliable wireless service, so does the demand to develop infrastructure capable of providing greater coverage and capacity. A decade ago, a single large cell tower on the outskirts of town could meet a community's wireless voice and data service needs. However, the reliability of these large "macro cell" wireless facilities has decreased as mobile data traffic exploded. The telecommunications industry responded by developing "small cell networks" distributed throughout communities and buildings to better meet the constant on-the-go data needs of the modern age. Instead of utilizing a single tower, possibly hundreds of feet high, small cell networks use multiple low-power antennas that connect to fiber optic cables. These small cell systems allow for greater speeds and more uniform coverage where they are deployed. However, they require a greater level of "wireless density" in order to function as intended. In other words, small cell facilities must be installed every few blocks rather than every few miles.