Broadband permitting needs more green lights, less red tape

The Commerce Department, which administers the historic $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program to close the digital divide, is currently in the process of approving states’ BEAD projects and has pledged to get money out the door by the end of this year. But without urgent action to fix our broken permitting process for broadband builds, that money will get tangled in red tape before a single foot of fiber reaches rural America. Every broadband provider in this country is ready to build. The problem is, they can’t get permission to do it. From the Bureau of Land Management to the U.S. Forest Service to state agencies, outdated and inconsistent permitting rules routinely delay broadband projects for months—and often years—leaving unserved communities waiting on the sidelines. Federal permitting has become one of the most intractable barriers to building America’s connected future.

[Jonathan Spalter is President and CEO of USTelecom – The Broadband Association, which represents broadband internet providers across the country.]