The FCC will begin its September 30 meeting by considering two proposals to reform permitting rules and accelerate wireline and wireless infrastructure builds. The effort is part of the agency’s Build America Agenda. The Commission has already advanced plans to: speed the upgrade from old copper line networks to modern ones, ease access to utility poles and revamp the agency’s approach to environmental reviews, Inside Towers reported.
One proposal is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks comments on reforms to streamline deployment of towers and other wireless infrastructure. The agency says it still hears about regulations “that inhibit the deployment, densification, and upgrading of wireless networks, resulting in an effective prohibition of 5G wireless services,” it states in the draft text.
The Notice seeks comment on state and local regulations that:
- Inhibit the deployment of macro cell towers and other wireless facilities;
- Impose unreasonable delays of permitting approvals;
- Assess disproportionate or otherwise unreasonable fees;
- Condition approval on aesthetic or similar criteria; and
- Impose other regulatory impediments.
In referencing the two proposals in his blog, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr discussed his recent visit to Malvern, AR, where he met Kalen and his crew of telecom workers who were laying fiber to bring high-speed connectivity to the small community on the edge of the Ouachita mountains.
“Spending time with these professionals helps you appreciate that climbing towers, stringing cable, and pulling fiber is hard work,” writes Carr. “It also helps you understand that government rules can make this work harder than it needs to be. Too often, crews like Kalen’s want the green light to build, but the projects get bogged down by bureaucratic red tape.”
The agency also plans to vote on a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) that seeks comments on ways the FCC can accelerate the buildout of wireline infrastructure. It centers on Section 253 of the Communications Act, which bans state and local regulations that effectively prohibit infrastructure builds.
The draft NOI seeks comments on topics such as: delays when providers seek authorizations from state and local governments to access and use public rights-of-way (ROW) and the general nature of ROW access fees levied on providers. The FCC wants to hear of cases where delays, fees, or conditions that effectively prohibit wireline telecom services and other state or local requirements that place barriers on wireline infrastructure deployment.
“Taken together, these two votes tee up some of the key reforms needed to modernize infrastructure rules and get shovels in the ground,” states Carr.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief