Minneapolis may allow cell phone antennas on streetlights

Cell phone antennas could adorn as many as 4,500 streetlights in downtown Minneapolis, under a proposal that won approval from a City Council committee on Tuesday.

Cell phone providers say they need to add bandwidth to accommodate large crowds armed with increasingly data-hungry wireless devices. If the city doesn't allow the new antennas on its light poles and traffic lights, federal law would give the companies the right to install their own poles.

Council Member Kevin Reich said that leaves Minneapolis with little choice but to allow antennas on streetlights. But some of his colleagues worry about adding clutter to the streetscape.

"I agree with that," Reich said. "However, we are in a situation where we are going to get visual clutter, more of it, one way or the other. I think we now have a way to manage it, frame it and get recompensed for it."

Under the proposed ordinance, cell phone companies would pay the city $4,000 per pole to install the antennas, plus $720 a year in rent.

A lobbyist for Verizon said the company supports the ordinance.