In rural Utah, a broadband provider waited nearly three years for permission to repair an existing cable line on federal land. By the time repairs could begin, the customers on the other end had gone years without reliable internet access. Without meaningful permitting reform, these delays will persist.
The federal government’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is set to begin implementation in the coming months, but the same web of permitting processes that slowed Utah will soon threaten thousands of projects across the country. To avoid costly delays and accelerate broadband deployment to millions of Americans, Congress should pass the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025 (ABDA).
Permitting Delays Stall Deployment
Before a single foot of fiber is laid or a wireless tower is built, a new broadband project must clear layers of permitting applications or environmental reviews. A single project may pass through multiple local, state, and sometimes federal permitting offices, often with duplicative reviews and conflicting requirements. One stalled approval can hold up the entire build, even when every other permit is ready.
Permitting offices haven’t kept pace as the volume of applications has surged alongside private and federal investment. The Fiber Broadband Association’s 2025 survey found that nearly half of broadband deployers reported project delays due to permitting, with 62 percent expecting more of the same this year. The Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General found that permits can take two years or more, while a review by the Government Accountability Office found that federal agencies missed the statutory 270-day deadline for more than one-third of communications-siting applications. At the local level, Hillsborough, New Jersey took nearly five years to deny a single routine permit application. In Monroe County, Michigan, a rural electric cooperative must file more than 100 permit applications just to build the first 68 miles of a fiber network. With each county agency only allowing two applications at a time, the project has had to push construction back at least a year.
There are essentially no consequences for these delays under the current permitting framework. While the FCC has established administrative review timelines for some wireless applications, no federal statute requires local governments to act on permit applications within a specific timeframe. Providers can still file suit in federal court if their applications stall, but since litigation can be equally slow and costly, many providers find it easier to wait it out or take their investment elsewhere.
What the ABDA Would Change
The ABDA would impose enforceable deadlines and accountability mechanisms that the current permitting system lacks. The bill sets “shot clocks” ranging from 60 to 150 days, depending on project type, within which a government must approve or deny a permit application. If officials miss the deadline, the application is automatically “deemed granted” once the provider gives written notice.
This approach has a proven record of success. After Florida’s 60-day shot clock law went into effect in 2017, providers launched massive statewide deployments of 5G infrastructure. Similarly, in the years following the adoption of the FCC’s shot clock and fee caps rules in 2018, U.S. small-cell deployment grew 110 percent. The ABDA extends these rules nationwide, accelerating deployment in jurisdictions where providers currently have no enforceable recourse against permitting delays.
The bill also closes other loopholes that localities have used to slow-walk permits. For example, if an application is incomplete, the government must say so upfront and identify everything that’s missing in one notice. This avoids drawn-out back-and-forth exchanges that can drag out the review process. Much of this framework already exists as FCC administrative policy, but agency rules can be reversed by a future commission. Broadband networks, by contrast, have payback periods that stretch far beyond any single FCC term. Codifying these policies in federal statute would create the regulatory certainty that providers need to confidently invest in long-term infrastructure projects. Over time, stability has enabled more competitive markets, faster deployment, and lower prices for consumers.
Why This Matters Now
After nearly five years, the BEAD program has finally moved to construction. Since the law requires providers to begin offering service within four years of receiving their funding, avoidable permitting delays can be dire. If that deadline is not met, the state can pull grant funding, and projects will halt construction.
The cost of these project delays will ultimately fall on households, like those in rural Utah, that have been waiting years for reliable service. For unconnected households, this can be the difference between a student finishing homework at home and one doing it in a McDonalds parking lot. If Congress is truly determined to provide valuable connectivity for millions of Americans, it should remove the barriers to deployment by passing the ABDA.
