Carr Proposes to Streamline Wireline Infrastructure Build Permitting

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr proposed new rules to eliminate regulations that constrain the deployment of high-speed wireline infrastructure. This proposal aims to cut red tape and excessive fees. It builds on a record showing that some state and local governments impose what the FCC calls “onerous” requirements that effectively prohibit the provision of wireline telecommunication services in violation of the Communications Act.

Providers must obtain authorization from state and local governments to deploy wireline infrastructure and provide service. The process can tie up applications for months or even years due to protracted reviews, Inside Towers reported.

This “increases deployment costs through excessive fees and demands for other forms of compensation,” according to the agency. “As a result, providers have chosen to walk away from investments in certain deployments or scale them back to minimize losses.”  

The Commission says excessive state and local burdens waste federal resources when they inhibit federally supported deployment projects. The proposals, if adopted by the Commission at its June meeting, would propose concrete steps to remove these barriers to wireline infrastructure deployments.

“Households and businesses won’t get the modern services they need if deployment projects are tied up in excessive red tape,” said Carr. “It’s clear from the input we’ve received that in far too many cases, America’s broadband builders are facing excessive fees and unnecessary delays. We need to streamline and modernize permitting rules to build networks that work.” 

The Commission began an inquiry in September 2025 into whether some state and local requirements were effectively prohibiting the provision of wireline telecommunication services in violation of Section 253 of the Communications Act. The Notice proposes further action to eliminate barriers to broadband infrastructure builds. It would seek comment on codifying rules that would:

• Give state and local governments 120 days to process wireline telecommunication services and infrastructure authorization requests before it’s presumed they are prohibiting the project and thus violating the law;
• Limit fees to a reasonable approximation of the government’s actual, direct costs of managing the rights-of-way with respect to a particular authorization application and establish safe harbor fee levels;
• Count in-kind compensation demanded by state and local governments toward any safe harbor fee levels; and,
• Prohibit the imposition of additional requirements on wireline telecommunications infrastructure deployments on the grounds that the infrastructure may also be used to provide other services.

NATE applauded the planned vote. “Our member companies build the physical networks that communities depend on, and they regularly encounter permit applications that sit unreviewed for months–adding cost and project delay with no corresponding public benefit. A 120-day shot clock gives permitting agencies a clear, workable deadline and creates accountability where there is currently none,” said NATE President/CEO Todd Schlekeway.

Schlekeway explained that permitting reform has been a consistent focus of NATE’s advocacy before Congress and federal agencies. This May, “NATE applauded the introduction of the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act of 2026, sponsored by Senators John Thune (R-SD), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and John Barrasso (R-WY), which would impose statutory timelines on federal permitting agencies and improve transparency in the broadband deployment process. NATE has emphasized in its advocacy that permit application backlogs and unpredictable local review requirements increase project timelines and costs without improving safety or other legitimate public interests.”

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief