BDAC Needs More Time to Finalize Contentious Broadband Adoption Report

“It’s surprising the number of people in our nation who have access [to broadband] but can’t afford it, and maybe even more surprising to our group was the number of Americans who have access to fixed and wireless connections but choose not to adopt either,” said Scott Rudd, aide to Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (R), who presented parts of the report. Fixing the gap will require a “multiple-prong approach, not just handing a device to someone if they cannot afford service or teaching them to use a service that they cannot afford,” he said.

“We do call out some examples of good things that have been done in certain jurisdictions and recommend those as paths forward for better community deployment,” said Wireless ISP President Claude Aiken, WG vice chair. The Community Reinvestment Act is “a great example of a way to encourage general deployment facilitating middle-mile and last-mile broadband to underserved communities generally,” he said: “It also positively impacts low-income communities.”

The report details the importance of “smart spectrum policy,” partnerships between government and industry, tax policy and problems caused by regulatory barriers, among other issues, officials said.

Members planned a variety of field trips to look at what’s working, but they were scuttled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said WG Chair Tom Ferree, chairman-CEO of Connected Nation.

Nancy Werner, NATOA general counsel, raised questions on recommendations on cutting red tape. “It is not clear exactly what the streamlined deployment-friendly policies are that you are referencing,” she said: It’s unclear “what the recommendation means and who it’s addressed to,” she said. Werner noted she represents local government on BDAC. “I cannot support recommendations that may be going toward preempting local government, maybe not,” she said: “I can't support recommendations that I can’t explain to my members.”

“There is a broad brush stroke here when it comes to streamlining and deployment-friendly policies,” said Eve Lewis, assistant city attorney in Coconut Creek, Florida. Cities and industry need to work together, and raising the issue of preemption doesn’t help, she said: “We are not stagnant. We want to move forward. We want to be good partners.”

BDAC Chair Elizabeth Bowles, CEO of WISP Aristotle, said the word “streamlined” is a “trigger” for the cities. “What word would you suggest we choose?” she asked, responding to questions. “We’re not talking about preemption.” Streamlining means “creating a working partnership where things move faster,” she said. Bowles said her biggest problem is getting the gear her WISP needs to deploy broadband and shouldn’t be problems with local government.

The report wrongly cites property tax abatement as a way to encourage deployment, said Larry Hanson, executive director of the Georgia Municipal Association. The pandemic is taking a toll on all taxes, he said. “A year from now, when foreclosures and distressed sales and short sales have happened, state law requires those to be factored into property values,” he said: “We will see property taxes decline in cities and counties across this country.”

Drop language that discusses systemic discrimination, Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein said. “These are pretty serious things to be throwing around as a theory,” he said. “This certainly is not a consensus item to put in this report.”

A report by BDAC’s Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group, discussed in detail in July (see 2007290060), was less controversial and easily approved by the full BDAC.

“Overall, the networks performed well during the pandemic,” said Red Grasso, WG chair who represents the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. Availability and adoption challenges “intensified” due to the pandemic, he said. “Municipalities were able to ensure that permitting generally was not an obstacle,” he said: “The national response to the pandemic prompted rapid and significant social changes and will likely lead to long-term changes in broadband usage and adoption.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told BDAC one of the biggest challenges is finding workers to deploy 5G. “We have a major gap right now,” he said. Companies need an additional 20,000 tower climbers, he said. “If you were to spread that out to fiber splicers and all of the other work that we need, it’s probably something closer to 100,000” workers needed, he said: “It’s a tough issue.”

BDAC was to meet over two days but got its work done Thursday. The group next meets in December but hasn't finalized a date.