Cities and counties around the US are angry at the Trump administration over a proposal to override local rules that govern the deployment of wired broadband networks.
The Federal Communications Commission has been taking public comments on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to preempt state and local permitting rules. The FCC argues that too many local governments “excessively delay approvals and seek to extract exorbitant sums from providers, resulting in costs that render some deployments infeasible.”
The FCC plan is supported by broadband providers, but local governments told the FCC that it would override rules that protect public safety. Local governments say the plan is illegal and that the FCC should instead focus on how Internet providers thwart competition with permit-hoarding and other tactics that prevent competitors from deploying networks.
The FCC docket has drawn many comments from leaders of individual municipalities, and from groups representing local governments nationwide. They object to FCC plans to impose a 120-day deadline for processing permits and to proposed limits on fees and compensation that local governments can require from providers.
“Local permitting is not a barrier to broadband deployment—it is an essential public safety function protecting residents, taxpayers, and all users of finite, multi-tenant public rights-of-way. The complex coordination required to safely deploy wireline telecommunications infrastructure in, above, and below public roadways cannot be reduced to an arbitrary federal deadline,” said a September 21 filing by the United States Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, and National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.
Cities say ISPs drag feet in deployment
While the FCC says it is trying to speed up broadband deployment, local governments say ISPs themselves are often to blame for delays. The groups representing local governments urged the FCC to issue new rules that apply to the providers and suggested a requirement that ISPs deploy networks within 180 days of local authorization.