Operators are sick and tired of being plagued with permits

With a new presidential administration soon upon us, a panel of broadband operators was asked what policy changes they’d most like to see. Leigh Fox, CEO at altafiber, gave a point-blank answer: “Permitting needs to be addressed.” From his perspective, it’s the one thing slowing down broadband deployments, and municipal permitting is “getting tougher and tougher,” he said. Five to ten years ago, a joint use agreement would take around 6-8 months to set up, said Fox. Now, that process can take “18-24 plus months.” Fox wasn’t the only one with permitting gripes. Harold Zeitz, CEO at Ziply Fiber, said in some of the towns Ziply operates in, they only let the company have one permit open at a time. Not only does that elongate the build process, but it makes it more expensive for both Ziply and the municipality.