R Street Institute Releases 2020 Broadband Scorecard Report

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Over the last two years, the R Street Institute has published the Broadband Scorecard, a project which ranks every state according to how well their laws govern the various aspects of broadband deployment. The latest edition of the R Street Institute’s Broadband Scorecard includes all state legislation passed through 2020, scores every state on their laws governing the regulatory process for broadband deployment and explains how each state could improve moving forward. When state laws provide a uniform and streamlined process for deployment, it becomes easier and those states earn a higher grade. While some states did very well, no state received a perfect score. 

In the 2020 Broadband Scorecard, R Street Technology and Innovation Fellow Jeffrey Westling discusses how broadband connectivity has become integral to modern life and how next-generation networks promise significant benefits to consumers and the economy as a whole. Westling uses the scorecard to demonstrates how broadband deployment is more critical than ever, but local barriers to deployment can stymie the process. Access to public rights of way, franchise review and construction permitting should be limited to the costs that the local government bears in managing them, and shot clocks on the review period can help ensure applications do not sit fallow. He finds that other policies such as dig-once, restricting in-kind contributions on filing and limiting aesthetic review can help reduce the regulatory barrier to deployment as well.

 


R Street Institute Releases 2020 Broadband Scorecard Report See the Scorecard