Improved Permitting Processes will Streamline Broadband Deployment

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) deadline for final proposals for the $42.45 billion in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) is September 3, 2025.  Funding is supposed to be distributed by December 31, 2025.  Like other broadband programs, BEAD projects must go through a state and local permitting process, which should expedite rather than delay construction.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took an important step toward streamlining infrastructure processes by adopting a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on Modernizing the Commission’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Rules, on August 7, 2025, and publishing a final rule on Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment in the Federal Register on August 26, 2025.  These actions emanated from President Trump’s EO 14154 on “Unleashing American Energy,” which called on federal agencies to “prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other objectives.”

The FCC’s actions should reduce paperwork and speed up the build out of broadband and mobile networks to unserved and underserved communities across the country.  This will help to expedite not only BEAD projects but also dozens of other federal broadband programs.

States and local governments can expedite deployment by streamlining application processes in their localities.  A September 30, 2024, article spotlighted the need for local governments to streamline their permitting processes, including “setting clear timelines, reducing redundant inspections, and implementing transparent, consistent guidelines that make it easier for private providers to navigate the permitting landscape.”

The timelines should include “shot clocks” for each stage of permit applications.  And allowing uniform electronic filing of applications would also speed up the process at both the state and local levels of government.

Deploying broadband to unserved and underserved communities across the country will require all levels of government to streamline the process of building out new infrastructure.  The FCC’s NPRM on NEPA requirements and final rule on removing deployment barriers to wireline deployment are very helpful but more must be done.