NTIA webinar offers broadband providers a permitting road map

Permitting sits on the critical path to broadband deployment, and understanding what agencies require can decide whether a project finishes on schedule. That was the central message of a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) webinar held August 26, which brought together federal permitting officials and a broadband provider who navigated a large Alaska fiber project. NTIA acting Chief Environmental Review and Permitting Officer Amanda Pereira moderated the session. She was joined by Craig Litteken, deputy director of infrastructure portfolio management at the Permitting Council, and Jason Louvier, project superintendent for the NANA Regional Broadband Network in northwest Alaska. The NTIA webinar started with Litteken describing the FAST-41 permitting process, a federal coordination program created under Title 41 of the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. It places qualifying projects on a publicly visible dashboard with a shared permitting timetable, an approach meant to give sponsors more predictability and a seat at the table rather than leaving applications to move through agencies individually. As part of the NTIA staff, Pereira noted that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is ramping up and that many providers will not meet its high-dollar threshold, making those permitting habits valuable regardless.