Federal Communications Commission	FCC 26-40

STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN BRENDAN CARR

Re: 	Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployments, WC Docket No. 25-253, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (June 25, 2026).

For years, I have advocated for a two-part playbook to ensure America’s leadership in 5G and other next generation communications services.  First, we need more spectrum in the marketplace.  We have made tremendous progress on this front over the last year.  Just this week, we announced the conclusion of our highly successful AWS-3 auction, where bidding beat expectations with significant per-unit prices and gross winning bids exceeding $3.5 billion.  Second, we need permitting reform.  Today, we are continuing our work on the latter by tackling unnecessary barriers that slow the deployment of broadband infrastructure.

The reality is straightforward.  Americans want faster, better broadband service.  If history and today’s competitive marketplace tell us anything, providers are ready to invest billions of dollars to meet that demand.  And many state and local governments are working on behalf of their communities with industry as partners to ensure that deployment is accelerated and that there are no barriers in the way.  In those states and localities, there is a recognition that faster, better broadband unleashes economic growth and provides other opportunities for work and education. 

However, there are some jurisdictions where providers continue to face lengthy delays, excessive fees, and unpredictable permitting processes that can postpone projects for months or even years.  Those barriers raise costs of deployment or discourage it altogether, leaving consumers on the wrong side of the digital divide. 

In response, today’s item asks whether the FCC should establish guardrails to ensure that state and local permitting processes are consistent with Section 253 and do not effectively prohibit the provision of telecommunications services.  We seek comment on setting a timeline for action on permits, on limiting fees to a reasonable approximation of the government’s actual, direct costs of managing the rights-of-way, and on prohibiting the imposition of additional requirements on wireline telecommunications infrastructure deployments on the grounds that they may also be used to provide other services.  

At the same time, we have also built in questions to better understand how we can incentivize providers to act quickly on any granted authorizations so that state and local governments have more certainty that deployments will be completed and that their resources are being correctly applied.  We have also asked if and how the Commission can incentivize providers to remove old facilities as they upgrade their networks and complete additional deployments to prevent unused infrastructure from being behind.  Because at the end of the day, we must ensure that permitting processes work efficiently and predictably for everyone, so that communities can benefit.

I look forward to reviewing the record, and I thank the staff for their work on this item, including Joseph Calascione, Liz Drogula, Jesse Goodwin, Jodie May, Rick Mallen, Malena Barzilai, Sarah Citrin, Paul LaFontaine, Garnet Hanley, and John Lockwood.