House Hearing Examines Streamlining Broadband Permitting

What challenges exist at the federal, state, and local levels that delay or burden broadband deployment?  How can Congress help expedite or streamline the process for broadband deployment? Is attaching telecommunications equipment on municipally or cooperatively-owned poles more difficult or expensive than on other poles? These questions motivated the House Commerce Committee's  Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing, Breaking Barriers: Streamlining Permitting to Expedite Broadband Deployment, on April 19. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated billions of dollars in federal funding for broadband deployment through the National Telecommunications Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. BEAD funds are expected to flow to states in the next year, so buildout—and permitting—timelines are even more important. BEAD requires grant funding to be spent within a certain timeframe, so extended permitting reviews could interfere with deployments.