CFIF Supports New FCC Rules to Ensure Consistent, Reasonable State and Local Regulations for High Speed Wireline Infrastructure Deployment

In a formal comment submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Center for Individual Freedom declared support for the FCC's proposed rules to bring certainty, predictability and efficiency to wireline infrastructure deployment permitting.

As CFIF's comments note, "local permitting delays remain one of the most significant obstacles to efficient deployment of broadband and the success of the Administration’s broadband agenda. Excessive red tape, as well as outrageous and unjustifiable fee demands unmoored from any real-world costs slow down projects and drive away potential competitive bidders. In turn, that results in less proverbial bang for the government buck, and potentially leaves some areas unserved as builders take a pass on important projects."

The FCC's proposed rules will help create predictable standards "in a measured way that respects state prerogatives and core public health and safety authorities, while establishing uncontroversial procedural rules and requirements to allow large-scale, interstate projects to succeed."

Re: Comment on Docket WC Docket No. 25-253 – Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployment

On behalf of over 300,000 supporters and activists across the United States, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) submits the following Comment in support of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) proposed rules to bring certainty, predictability and efficiency to wireline deployment permitting.¹

The rules proposed in the instant proceeding serve each of those core objectives, and CFIF therefore strongly supports them.

Under existing regulations, local permitting delays remain one of the most significant obstacles to efficient deployment of broadband and the success of the Administration’s broadband agenda. Excessive red tape, as well as outrageous and unjustifiable fee demands unmoored from any real-world costs slow down projects and drive away potential competitive bidders. In turn, that results in less proverbial bang for the government buck, and potentially leaves some areas unserved as builders take a pass on important projects.

According to one recent study, a typical Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program broadband build requires permits from eight different authorities – federal, state, county, municipal and private. With authorities stretched across nearly 2,500 counties and over 12,000 municipalities nationwide, predictable federal standards and timeline become even more vital to project planning and execution.

The FCC’s proposed rules will deliver just that – in a measured way that respects state prerogatives and core public health and safety authorities, while establishing uncontroversial procedural rules and requirements to allow large-scale, interstate projects to succeed.

Without new rules and guidelines, in contrast, runaway permitting costs will drive up the costs of financing deployment projects and ultimately increase prices for consumers. Fewer workers will be hired to protect against slowdowns and uncertainty, and some deployments may not get built at all.

Importantly, the FCC’s proposed rules take a light touch, setting reasonable fee baselines and offering guidance for recurring issues like state demands for “in kind” contributions, and preserving legitimate health, safety, environmental, right-of-way and other state protections and authorities. They’re also technology neutral and prevent local regulators from putting a regulatory thumb on the scale for any particular industry or company by putting an end to the cost-inflating practice of jacking up fees for broadband builds that may have multiple uses. By tying permitting fees to actual costs incurred by the relevant state or locality, moreover, they ensure the permitting bottleneck can’t become a piggybank for runaway taxation and spending at the expense of high-priority broadband projects.

Finally, by regulating through “rebuttable presumptions,” the proposed rules leave room for exceptions and different treatment of truly different cases when real evidence demonstrates that the federal baseline isn’t a good fit. That structure delivers overall predictability, without shutting down legitimate arguments where accommodations or alternative approaches are truly justified.

To be clear, CFIF strongly supports America’s federalist tradition and state regulatory authority. In our view, the proposed rules strike an appropriate balance. They preserve core state health and safety and land access regulations, while addressing the most significant obstacles to accomplishing vital federal priorities.

In fact, because broadband builds often cross (and re-cross) state lines, the proposed rules actually work in service of federalist principles by ensuring that a single state’s process failures don’t undermine the ability of its neighbors to complete critical broadband work of their own.

For these reasons, CFIF supports the FCC’s effort to speed and regularize permitting for wireline broadband deployment projects.

1. CFIF is a non-profit, non-partisan organization established in 1998 with the mission of safeguarding and advancing Constitutional rights and ensuring continued American innovation, prosperity, leadership, entrepreneurship and worldwide technological preeminence. As a central part of that mission, CFIF advocates for public policies that advance internet, technological and broadband development most freely, effectively and efficiently.