Arkansans love their mobile phones. Recent data shows that approximately 35 percent of Arkansas' population does not have a landline telephone and relies exclusively on wireless service.
Consumers have come to rely on wireless services for many of their communications needs, but for broadband, Arkansas is only the 48th most-connected state in America.
As demand for wireless services continues to increase within our state, wireless companies need clear and consistent policies in place that will ensure continued growth in the wireless industry. Local governments regularly fight against proposals to build telecommunications towers, so wireless carriers are left with increasingly limited options for placing their antennas close to where people live, work and play. There is a clear disconnect between the percentage of Arkansans solely relying on wireless service and the increasingly limited options for improving and expanding wireless coverage.