Permitting Critical for Successful BEAD Program: WIA
Reasonable permitting policies are key for a successful broadband equity, access and deployment program, Wireless Infrastructure Association President Patrick Halley said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The letter outlines WIA’s basic positions as the administration starts evaluating…
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and funding BEAD projects. “A constant refrain from our members is that the unpredictability, costs, and delays associated with obtaining permits and approvals to build -- or even upgrade -- infrastructure create real barriers to deployment,” Halley said: “Ensuring predictable, proportionate, and transparent permitting processes balances the needs of government to meaningfully review applications with the needs of communities to get broadband access quickly.” Halley praised NTIA’s work on streamlining reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, saying it will “have an outsized effect in promoting deployment to the hardest to reach areas.” Halley also called on the department to continue to recognize the importance of work force development, the need for prioritizing spectrum for commercial use and to recognize the importance of fixed wireless access.