In Kansas City to visit Google's fiber build test-bed, FCC commissioner
Ajit Pai said Wednesday that other cities should take a page from Kansas City's
efforts to "expedite and simplify" the permitting process.
Pai said his principal takeaway from the project was how
important it is for government at all levels to ease rights-of-way management
issues.
"When broadband service providers seek to construct
next-generation networks, they need to access government-controlled land,
poles, and conduits in order to lay fiber and install other
infrastructure," he said in statement. "Currently, too many providers
who try to obtain such access are confronted with daunting sets of federal,
state, and/or municipal regulations that often delay and sometimes deter
infrastructure investment and broadband deployment."
He called on the FCC to do its part by "work[ing] with
stakeholders to develop model regulations, guidelines, or best practices for
rights-of-way management that facilitate fiber deployment while safeguarding
legitimate government interests."
