Pai Proposes Actions to Remove Barriers to Broadband, Digital Deployment

starting with aggressive FCC use of its statutory authority under Section 253 of the Communications Act to ensure local governments don't hold up broadband deployment, with Section 332(c)(7) of the Communications Act and Section 6409 of the Spectrum Act providing further mandates to remove infrastructure barriers. Second, he said the FCC needs "to take a fresh look at our pole attachment rates" and Congress needs to give the commission broader related authority. Third, to help cities and towns wanting more deployment and competition, he urged the FCC to create a Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee to draft a model code on "local franchising, zoning, permitting and rights-of-way regulations" that balances municipal interests and broadband needs. Fourth, the federal government should speed broadband deployment on federal lands, including through agency distribution of mapping information and "reasonable internal shot clocks for processing applications and negotiating leases," he said, seeking a hard one-year deadline on decisions no matter how many agencies are involved. Finally, "We must make 'dig once' a central tenet of our nation's transportation policy. ... Every road and highway construction project should include the installation of the conduit that can carry fiber optic cables," he said. "With these five steps, policymakers can do their part to ensure that next-generation broadband networks -- and the smart cities they support -- will become a reality."