The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association offer advice to broadband providers pursuing rural buildouts about the permit process in the first module of version three of the organizations’ Broadband Infrastructure Playbook.
Playbook 3.0, as the new iteration of the playbook is called, is a continuation of the two organizations’ efforts to help state broadband offices and others prepare for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
The Eligible Entity, an appointed agency for each state or territory, must among other things reduce costs and barriers to deployment. This could include use of existing infrastructure, promoting dig-once policies, streamlining the permitting process and ensuring cost-effective access to poles, conduits, easements and rights of way.
Playbook 3.0 suggests that eligible entities should:
- Create a single point of contact in the state or territory that will support and facilitate permitting approvals by state, territory and local government agencies.
- Post information such as forms and underlying documentation, environmental/engineering studies and fee schedules on government agency websites.
- Create common forms for applications to access all government agencies. The goal is to allow subgrantees to file forms electronically and check the status of their applications in an online portal.
- Provide sufficient resources to process applications in a timely fashion.
- Adopt “cost-based” fees for applications and use of public rights-of-way. This should be limited to costs the government agencies incurred and the cost of “restoring disturbed areas to their pre-construction status.”
- Use The State Model Code, a document created by the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, to provide ideas and draft legislation that can streamline state and local permit processing.
The NTCA and FBA released the first module of the Playbook 3.0 last week. The FBA and the NTCA will release additional modules for the Broadband Infrastructure Playbook in the future. Topics will include cybersecurity, supply chain risk management and broadband coverage challenge processes.
