WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, led a hearing titled Examining Solutions to Expedite Broadband Permitting.

“Closing the digital divide has long been a bipartisan goal. But after four years and $42 billion, not a single home has been connected through BEAD,” said Chairman Hudson. “My priority is to fix this program, cut red tape, and speed deployment so families in North Carolina and across America can finally get the broadband they deserve. Money alone will not solve this problem. We must streamline the permitting process and remove unnecessary delays so communities can get connected faster.”

Watch the full hearing here.

Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing:

Subcommittee Vice Chairman Rick Allen (GA-12): “How does streamlining broadband permitting help us to stay ahead of global competitors?” Mr. Spalter: “It tries to even the playing field. Let’s be clear about what’s going on today in the world. In China, in 2025, it is expected that there will be $100 billion of [capital expenditure] invested. [...] Unless and until we have the guile and the focus to be able to move aggressively, to streamline and make more logical our own permitting systems so that we can truncate the time from application to approval, we are going to fall behind in the AI race, and we can’t let that happen.”

Congressman Russ Fulcher (ID-01): “In my home state of Idaho, Cambridge Telephone Company tells me that they have projects that still take somewhere between two and four years to get through permitting. [...] In Midvale, Idaho, MTE communications had a project stall due the need for multiple NEPA studies, and that was simply because they were trying to run a conduit and a fiber cable about 100 feet from a roadway on federal land.”

Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (ND-AL): “We have made leaps and bounds in the technology since the days of old AOL dial tone for internet connection. We’ve got 5G. We’ve got so many advances, but our permitting process is still stuck in the old, AOL dial tone kind of mentality. We’re so stuck in that, and we have to bring our permitting processes up to the modern age and to meet the demands of the time that we’re in right now where we need to get this infrastructure out quickly.”

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