OTARD = Over the Air Reception Device

Reject All Wireless OTARD Antenna Offers

  • The smart money has already acted to avoid the impending environmental and liability disaster of OTARD antennas for wireless broadband (i.e. information services, not telecommunication services). OTARD = Over the Air Reception Devices — which is a misnomer because OTARD antennas both receive and send huge amounts of wireless data.

  • The largest re-insurers in the world — Lloyd’s of London, Swiss Re, AM Best and others – acted over a decade ago to exclude from their General Liability policies any claims of injury, illness or death “arising out of, resulting from or contributed to by electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetism, radio waves or noise.”

  • People from Eagle, ID to Tucson, AZ to Pittsfield, MA have fully documented their injuries from RF microwave radiation from over-powered wireless cellular infrastructure antennas installed in their neighborhoods and are now pressing their claims against uninsured operators (see details at https://wireamerica.org/). Don’t allow you and your home to become an uninsured wireless operator and the likely target of such claims. Instead, reject all Wireless OTARD antenna offers.

Avoid the Disaster of OTARD Antennas in Your Neighborhood

. . . by choosing to NOT install Wireless Broadband Infrastructure Antennas on your private lot or roof

  • In 2021-2022, with a quick assist from a hastily written FCC OTARD rule change and an equally hasty ruling in the US Court of Appeals (DC Circuit), the FCC has unleashed some “new wireless kids on the block” who aim to exploit unsuspecting homeowners, sell them a bill of goods, and build/operate an unnecessary and hazardous wireless mesh network — which will diminish public safety, privacy, and property values.

  • These “new kids” are not the Wireless incumbents (AT&T, Dish, T-Mobile or Verizon), but Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) seeking to contract with private property owners to install full-powered Wireless Broadband Base Station Facilities on private homes — with no local government permit, no neighborhood notification, no public hearing and no opportunity for anyone to oppose them.

  • New operators such as Starry, UltraHome or Etheric Networks, are offering fixed wireless broadband services with introductory incentives to wage a market share battle against wired broadband providers. You are far better off getting broadband data via faster,  more secure and extremely energy-efficient wired broadband via fiber-optic and coaxial cables that are connected directly to homes.

Protect Yourselves From OTARD Liabilities

. . . resulting from the toxic, wireless pollution emitted by OTARD antennas — that ruins the quiet enjoyment of streets

  • Taking advantage of possible monthly savings of $15-30 per month ($180 to $360 per year) could, in the end, be a very expensive decision for you and your family.
  • The hastily written FCC OTARD rule will not protect you from lawsuits (see details below).
  • The WISP has no insurance to cover claims of injury, illness or death from RF microwave radiation exposures — and neither do you.
  • As a joint operator of this wireless mesh network (sending and receiving data), you will have Joint and Several Liability with the WISP because the OTARD Wireless Base Station is on your property. The OTARD Wireless Base Station sends and receives pulsed, data-modulated RF microwave radiation from high-powered wireless broadband antennas installed on your roof or in your backyard to create a mesh network of unlicensed wireless spectrum (ranging from 2,450 MHz to 60,000 MHz).

Beware of the Flawed 2021 FCC OTARD Rule Change

. . . because the rule change effectively transfers liabilities to homeowners

  • Source: https://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule
  • Your liability, as a joint provider of wireless service, hinges on the fuzzy definition of commingled services, the mixing together of telecommunications services (making wireless phone calls) and information services (wireless broadband, gaming and video streaming).
  • The FCC OTARD rule (Title 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000), reproduced below, is a hastily written rule that failed to dot all of the i’s and cross all of the t’s.
  • The FCC OTARD rule “excludes any hub or relay antenna that is used to provide any telecommunications services or services that are provided on a commingled basis with telecommunications services
  • Uh oh . . . your WISP provides wireless broadband to your home (information services), but you or any visitor to your home can then choose to use Wi-Fi calling to make a wireless call from your home. Wireless calls, like that, are telecommunications services. That is a clear example of commingling information service with telecommunications service. You, then, as a joint provider of wireless service, would be excluded from the FCC OTARD rule (Title 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000) and all of its alleged protections.

Complete Your Own Due Diligence

. . . before you enter into any OTARD agreements with fixed Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs)

  • Check your own insurance company and attorney
  • Protect yourself by sharing this information with your neighbors
  • Just say NO to assuming uninsured Joint and Several Liability along with that WISP because the OTARD Wireless Base Station would be on your property

Title 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000

The Federal Communications Commission amends Section 1.4000 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 1 – PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

Subpart S – Preemption of Restrictions That “Impair” the Ability To Receive Television Broadcast Signals, Direct Broadcast Satellite Services, or Multichannel Multi-point Distribution Services or the Ability To Receive or Transmit Fixed Wireless Communications Signals

  1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows: “Authority: 47 U.S.C. chs. 2, 5, 9, 13; 28 U.S.C. 2461, unless otherwise noted.”
  2. Amend §1.4000 by revising paragraph (a)(1) as follows: § 1.4000 Restrictions impairing reception of television broadcast signals, direct broadcast satellite services or multichannel multi-point distribution services.
    • * * * * *
    • (a)(1)(i)(A) Used to receive direct broadcast satellite service, including direct-to-home satellite service, or to receive or transmit fixed wireless signals via satellite, including a hub or relay antenna used to receive or transmit fixed wireless services that are not classified as telecommunications services, and
    • * * * * *
    • (a)(1)(ii)(A) Used to receive video programming services via multi-point distribution services, including multichannel multi-point distribution services, instructional television fixed services, and local multi-point distribution services, or to receive or transmit fixed wireless signals other than via satellite, including a hub or relay antenna used to receive or transmit fixed wireless services that are not classified as telecommunications services, and
    • * * * * *
  3. Amend §1.4000 by adding paragraph (a)(5) to read as follows: (a)(5) For purposes of this section, “hub or relay antenna” means any antenna that is used to receive or transmit fixed wireless signals for the distribution of fixed wireless services to multiple customer locations as long as the antenna serves a customer on whose premises it is located, but excludes any hub or relay antenna that is used to provide any telecommunications services or services that are provided on a commingled basis with telecommunications services.