Study shows lengthy, burdensome, or costly permitting processes undermine wireline network investment and deployment

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) has long supported the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) drive through its Build America Agenda to accelerate the deployment of wireline communications infrastructure across the U.S. Today, in response to the agency’s latest proposals to facilitate investment and deployments, FBA submitted an economic study from the business consulting firm Cartesian, Wireline Telecommunications Permitting Challenges: Economic Impact of State and Local Permitting Practices, which details how egregious state and local permitting practices make fiber and other wireline network deployments unviable.

Gary Bolton, President and CEO of FBA, explained, “Cartesian’s report provides the hard data and detailed analysis that buttresses the recent comments filed with the FCC by FBA, its members, and other wireline providers and associations. FBA believes the FCC now has the support it needs to adopt a national framework to streamline permitting practices to facilitate wireline builds and urges it to act promptly.”

Permitting remains a leading challenge for wireline network builders. Unreasonable state and local requirements for securing access and approvals to build on municipal or private property create substantial bottlenecks, disruptions, and delays that inhibit network construction. The stakes are only growing as communities need fiber infrastructure to connect residents, businesses, and anchor institutions to innovative services and applications, like AI and quantum.

“When permitting delays and high fees turn an economically viable build into an unviable one, the fallout is real. Consumers wait longer for vital connectivity, undermining competition and leaving the doorway to the digital economy closed,” said Lukas Pietrzak, Interim Head of Public Policy at the Fiber Broadband Association. “Local governments have a legitimate role in managing public rights-of-way, but we need to ensure their actions are consistent with the overall public interest.”

The Cartesian study reviews more than 100 permitting examples across 30 states and territories, and models how 12 of the most commonly identified permitting practices affect investment decisions. It finds ample evidence of a variety of egregious permitting practices that result in economic harm to wireline deployments and are worth intervention. The practices with the greatest negative impact on wireline deployment include one-time Right-of-Way (ROW) per foot access fees, recurring ROW occupancy fees, degradation fees, restrictive construction requirements, sequential approvals, and contingent approvals.

The study includes recommendations to curtail burdensome permitting practices, including:

• Fee Types: Prohibit non-cost-based fees (i.e. per linear feet of ROW occupied, share of service provider revenue)
• Safe Harbor Fee Limits inclusive of all reviews, inspections, and approval: Fees should not exceed $200 per permit with a cap of $5,000 per jurisdiction for large projects. Smaller projects requiring fewer permits would incur proportionately lower fees.
• Permit Review Shot Clocks: Jurisdictions should complete all reviews, inspections, and approvals within 120 days of initial application submission. The 120-day shot clock applies to large, complex projects, with a proportionately shorter timeline for smaller and less complex builds.
• Predefined, Clear, Documented jurisdictional permitting requirements and approval processes, applied consistently across providers.
• In-Kind Compensation should be quantified and counted against the jurisdiction’s cost-recovery limit.
• Dispute Resolution Process with clear, time-bound, and dedicated mechanisms for jurisdictions to resolve permitting disputes and stalemates and expeditious review of preemption petitions by the FCC.

The Cartesian study comes at a critical time, after the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in June 2026 that proposes rules under Section 253 of the Communications Act to alleviate constraints on the deployment of modern high-speed wireline infrastructure. The study brings detailed economic evidence into that debate, showing how specific permitting practices can affect not only when networks are built, but whether they are built at all. FBA filed comments in support of the NPRM and will file the Wireline Telecommunications Permitting Challenges report today as an additional resource for the Commission’s consideration.

FBA will hold a webinar on October 13 at 2:00 pm ET to review the Wireline Telecommunications Permitting Challenges report. Register to attend the webinar here.

To learn more about FBA, its research, or its public policy activities, subscribe to FBA’s Fiber Forward Weekly newsletter here.

About the Fiber Broadband Association

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) is the leading voice for fiber infrastructure, uniting the entire ecosystem of network operators, technology innovators, equipment manufacturers, and industry experts building the high-performance fiber networks that power our digital future. As the world’s largest association dedicated to fiber, FBA advances the deployment of future-ready infrastructure through research, education, standards, workforce development, and public policy advocacy. As broadband, artificial intelligence, quantum networks, and next-generation technologies converge, FBA is helping ensure communities, businesses, and economies are built on the reliable, scalable, and energy-efficient foundation that only fiber can provide. Founded in 2001, FBA is a member of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, representing six regional Fibre councils spanning North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and South Africa. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.

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