Wireless installation permitted on DTE pole

Despite some concerns by Bloomfield Hills city commissioners, Mobilitie LLC received unanimous permission at the commission meeting on Tuesday, June 12, to install DAS equipment on a DTE pole at Long Lake and Woodward in order to provide greater wireless coverage.

Mobilitie LLC was hired by Sprint to attach small wireless communications facilities on a new utility pole, owned by DTE, on the northwest corner of Long Lake Road and Woodward, in the right-of-way. The pole is approximately 63-feet from the western edge of Woodward, papers filed with Bloomfield Hills stated, with the right-of-way owned by the Road Commission of Oakland County (RCOC). The RCOC had given permission to Mobilitie to work on the site.

City manager David Hendrickson the request was made to provide coverage for an area that had a deficiency in wireless coverage.

“Companies look for an existing pole to put their communications facilities on,” he said. They typically look for one without a power source, he said. The DTE pole is not a power source, he said.

Bloomfield Hills' commissioners expressed concerns about adding clutter to the intersection, but Hendrickson said by law, “if there is a deficiency, they have to be able to provide their customers with coverage.”

It was determined there was a wireless deficiency, and the DTE pole was in the least obtrusive location.

Mobilitie agreed to remove the facilities when it was abandoned or is no longer needed.