Improving the Permitting Process for Fiber Network Stakeholders

Improving the Permitting Process for Fiber Network Stakeholders

As states gear up to allocate BEAD money, the challenges of permitting are top-of-mind for all parties involved in the process. To ensure that local governments and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can reduce broadband network construction challenges, 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, held a summit earlier this year to discuss the issues and recommend solutions for increasing the speed of permitting. 

“We invited all thirty of the nation’s leading permitting experts, local permitting experts, to Georgetown, and these experts represented all the stakeholders that we think are important to the permitting process,” said Drew Garner, Director of Policy Engagement, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. “We had local governments represented. We had public-private landowners represented. We had federal agencies represented, state offices represented, and then nonprofit experts.”

From the day-long discussions, three key findings emerged from the assembled group: Interactions and partnerships should rise between the ISP and local government, how to improve the permitting process itself, and the need for additional resources.

“The most universal theme and area of consensus across our members was that for local broadband offices to manage the upcoming wave of BEAD applications, they’re going to need a consummate increase in resources because it takes work and resources to permit,” noted Garner.

Follow-up work from the group was published earlier this month in the form of a white paper outlining issues and areas for permitting improvement. Titled “Permitting Success: Closing the Digital Divide Through Local Broadband Permitting,”  the paper also shared insight on maximizing investments in broadband connectivity for all Americans.

Participants in the roundtable shared their experiences and desires to improve permitting across the county. The City of Mesa’s town council decided that good internet connectivity wasn’t enough and that it was time for a change. 

“We wanted internet connectivity at Mesa, and so we really set out to see what we could do as a city, as a regulatory body, to entice companies to come in,” said Ian Linssen, Assistant to the City Manager, City of Mesa.”One of the big components is the permitting process. It’s ensuring that there’s a transparent process that folks know what to expect when they’re working with us and that they have certainty on turnaround times.”

For more on permitting, the permitting white paper, and how it will help local governments and ISPs navigate broadband network construction challenges, listen to the latest Fiber for Breakfast podcast.

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