Washington, D.C. | September 4, 2024—Today, a group of leading broadband organizations published a strategic paper titled “Permitting Success: Closing the Digital Divide Through Local Broadband Permitting.” The paper will help local governments and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) navigate broadband network construction challenges and maximize investments in broadband connectivity for all Americans.
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, in partnership with the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, the American Association for Public Broadband, Fiber Broadband Association, Brightspeed, and GFiber, wrote the Permitting Success paper.
The paper publishes at a critical moment when broadband infrastructure funding is at an all-time high due to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program—the single largest broadband program in U.S. history. This historic level of funding creates an opportunity to bring high-speed internet access to every community in America and close the digital divide.
Historic levels of funding will accelerate broadband network construction, putting enormous pressure on local governments responsible for permitting infrastructure construction within municipal boundaries. These processes take time and resources, and not every government is equipped for the coming wave of construction. This is especially true in rural areas, where municipal resources are lowest and BEAD activity will be highest.
Effective and efficient permitting processes are critical for ISPs and local governments to successfully deploy broadband networks that will give every American community modern connectivity. The Permitting Success paper includes case studies; strategic checklists for ISPs, local governments, and state and federal agencies; and outlines three main categories for permitting success:
Fostering partnerships between the permit seeker and the permitting authority
Maximizing resources available to the permitting authority
Ensuring transparency and consistency in the permitting process
The paper’s findings were identified during a collaborative national summit on local permitting processes convened by Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, which was attended by more than 30 permitting leaders representing local, state, and federal governments; ISPs; civil society organizations; philanthropies; and other key stakeholders. The paper will be explored during an episode of FBA’s Fiber for Breakfast on September 25, at 10:00am EDT. Register here to watch the episode live.
Supporting Quotes:
Drew Garner, Director of Policy Engagement, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society:
“Broadband is fundamental to modern life. Yet, for millions of Americans, broadband is unavailable. To correct this, the U.S. has launched a historic effort to bring broadband to every household in the country. But such extensive broadband construction will require extensive construction permitting, and construction permitting often happens at the local level. Thus, the historic effort to close the digital divide will ultimately flow through the permitting offices of our local governments. This paper is intended to help those offices and their applicants operate at maximum efficiency.”
Natalie Roisman, Executive Director, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy:
“The Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy seeks to be a convener for conversations that are necessary, challenging, and will move the needle on urgent technology policy issues. We were pleased to host the permitting summit that sought input from a wide range of expert private and public sector perspectives, culminating in this thoughtful paper, and hope this process will get us closer to the critical goal of broadband for every American."
Gigi Sohn, American Association for Public Broadband Executive Director:
“The permitting paper being released today was made possible by a unique collaboration among representatives from across the broadband ecosystem—local, state and federal government officials, civil society, philanthropy and diverse segments of the industry. While there was not always unanimity on every finding, there was complete agreement that everyone benefits when all US households are connected to robust, affordable high-speed broadband. The result is a common sense guide that seeks to ensure that everyone in that ecosystem contributes to a successful local permitting process.”
Fiber Broadband Association President and CEO Gary Bolton:
“There is tremendous opportunity ahead to connect every American to reliable, high-speed broadband and to the economic benefits that come with high-quality connectivity. But every player across the broadband ecosystem needs to develop their best strategy to ensure network construction is safe and efficient and broadband deployment is effective and successful. The Fiber Broadband Association offers a growing library of research and resources to help the industry develop successful strategies for fiber broadband deployment, and we believe this paper is a valuable addition that will help ensure these networks are built right the first time.”
Brightspeed: Tom Dailey, senior vice president, Public Policy, Government Affairs and Regulatory, Brightspeed
“Brightspeed is actively building our state-of-the-art fiber network across 17 states mostly in rural and suburban communities, and positive and timely engagement with permitting authorities is critical. This is especially true when permitting requirements vary from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. By creating more streamlined, consistent and transparent permitting processes, we can ultimately reach more homes and businesses more efficiently. We very much appreciate the opportunity to engage with the many permissions and policy professionals who contributed their time, energy and most of all their expertise to developing this paper, which will facilitate the successful deployment of broadband networks across the nation.”
GFiber: Darrel Hegar, Head of Market Operations, GFiber
“Everyone deserves access to high-quality broadband internet. Communities and providers must work together to speed up network construction and service delivery. The policies and procedures laid out in this paper provide a clear roadmap for how we can make real, tangible progress to bringing the promise of next-generation internet to reality for all Americans.”
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Media Contacts:
Benton Institute for Broadband & Society: Drew Garner, dgarner@benton.org
Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy: Samantha Simonsen, sas497@georgetown.edu
American Association for Public Broadband: Aaron Alberico, alberico@raynoravenue.com
Brightspeed: Gene Rodriguez Miller, pr@brightspeed.com
Fiber Broadband Association: Autumn Minnich, FBA@connect2comm.com
GFiber: gfiber-pr@google.com