America’s Communications Association (ACA Connects) is working closely with our members to understand the challenges providers face on the ground to access public rights-of-way and connect their communities. Now, we’re advocating directly to the FCC on their behalf to keep projects moving.
The following is a summary of our comments in support of the FCC’s Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireline Deployment Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
To cut permitting backlogs, ACA Connects recommends the FCC:
- Adopt a strong presumption that reviews for major projects exceeding 120 days are unlawful.
- Give local governments a maximum 45 days for simpler projects, such as small-scale deployments or running fiber along existing poles.
- Eliminate additional reviews to install service to customer locations or to restore services over an already-authorized area, such as after a weather emergency.
To limit surprise costs or exorbitant fees on providers, ACA Connects supports the FCC’s efforts to:
- Adopt a nationwide cost-based fee standard which limits fees to actual, direct, and document costs.
- Count in-kind contributions toward allowable compensation.
- Require states and localities to publicly publish fees they charge for telecommunication deployments.
- Require equal treatment of competing providers.
- Define clear fee caps.
ACA Connects urges the FCC to prohibit rate regulation because it poses a grave threat to the deployment and operation of telecommunications networks.
- ACA Connects, in collaboration with Cartesian, found that broadband price regulation significantly reduces investment in telecommunications networks.
- Even relatively modest forms of price regulation – such as a $30/month capped price for qualifying low-income households – would materially reduce investment in telecommunications networks and services.
- These effects would be felt most acutely in rural areas, where high per-location costs make business cases for network deployment especially fragile.
- Smaller providers and new entrants with limited resources and capacity to absorb regulatory costs would also suffer disproportionate harm.
When a locality violates the shot clock deadline, cost-based fee benchmark, or other requirements, ACA Connects urges the FCC to adopt these workable enforcement mechanisms:
- Issue a decision within 60 days of the complaint being filed.
- Upon receiving a complaint, immediately start an expedited dispute-resolution process.
- Once the Commission makes a determination to preempt non-cost-based fees, it should direct the locality to permit the provider to enter immediately, deploy facilities, and initiate operations.
- Providers should not pay fees until the locality adopts a fee that is lawful.
- A provider that “signs and sues” over its fee should be eligible for a true-up if the Commission rules in its favor that the fee was not cost-based.