STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR
Re:	Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment, WC Docket No. 17-84.
You might not think that the construction crew with Nebraska-based Bauer Underground is steeped in the FCC’s Section 214 and Part 51 case law.  But they are big fans of the steps we’re taking here. 
Right now, they are working on Highway 22, which is a 20-mile stretch that connects Columbus with Genoa, Nebraska.  When I visited with them last week, they told me about the trenching and construction work they are doing to replace slower-speed, legacy connections with a new fiber deployment.  This will bring gigabit capacity to a portion of the Cornhusker state that has only 8 residents per square mile.  It will mean faster and more reliable broadband for over 900 rural households.
At the FCC, we should be making it easier for providers to replace legacy offerings with these types of new, high-speed services.  After all, one of Bauer’s crews can trench up to 5 miles of new fiber each day, but, in the simplest cases, it can take the FCC several months just to process the paperwork and greenlight the work.  With today’s decision, we cut that review time in half, while ensuring that consumers remain protected.  This will help keep the construction crews moving.  It will help ensure that consumers get reliable and adequate replacement services.  And it will help provide communities like Genoa with a fair shot at next-generation opportunity.
So I want to thank the staff of the Wireline Competition Bureau for its work on this item.  It has my support.