Chairman Carr Proposes to Streamline Permitting Rules for Wireline Infrastructure Builds
New ‘Build America Agenda’ Proposals Look to Clear Way for Modern Wireline Infrastructure by Eliminating Red Tape and Excessive Fees
   
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2026—Today, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr proposed new rules to eliminate regulations that constrain the deployment of modern, high-speed wireline infrastructure.  This proposal, which aims to cut red tape and excessive fees, builds on a record showing that some state and local governments impose requirements that effectively prohibit the provision of wireline telecommunication services in violation of Section 253 of the Communications Act.

In order to build out wireline infrastructure to consumers, providers must obtain authorizations from state and local governments to deploy facilities and provide service.  This can be an onerous process that ties up applications in months or even years of protracted reviews and increases deployment costs through excessive fees and demands for other forms of compensation.  As a result, providers have chosen to walk away from investments in certain deployments or scale them back to minimize losses.  These onerous and expensive state and local burdens also waste federal resources when they inhibit federally-supported deployment projects.  Today’s proposals, if adopted by the Commission at its June meeting, would propose concrete steps to remove these barriers to wireline infrastructure deployments.

Chairman Carr issued the following statement:

“Households and businesses won’t get the modern services they need if deployment projects are tied up in excessive red tape.  It is clear from the input we’ve received in the public record that in far too many cases, America’s broadband builders are facing excessive fees and unnecessary delays.  We need to streamline and modernize permitting rules to build networks that work for the American people.”

Additional Background Information:

In September 2025, the Commission began an inquiry into whether some state and local requirements were effectively prohibiting the provision of wireline telecommunication services in violation of Section 253 of the Act.  Today’s Notice proposes further action to prevent excessive delays, fees, and other conditions from operating as barriers to broadband infrastructure builds.

The Notice would seek comment on codifying rules that would: 

· Give state and local governments 120 days to process wireline telecommunication services and infrastructure authorization requests before it is presumed they are prohibiting the project and thus violating the law;
· Limit fees to a reasonable approximation of the government’s actual, direct costs of managing the rights-of-way with respect to a particular authorization application and establish safe harbor fee levels;
· Count in-kind compensation demanded by state and local governments toward any safe harbor fee levels; and,
· Prohibit the imposition of additional requirements on wireline telecommunications infrastructure deployments on the grounds that the infrastructure may also be used to provide other services.

Chairman Carr’s Build America Agenda is guided by principles of innovation, deregulation, and competition.  It emphasizes forward-looking policies, simple and clear rules, and a bias toward action to drive economic growth.  Its ultimate goal is to ensure the U.S. not only keeps pace with global advancements but leads the world in next-generation networks and technologies.

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