House Energy and Commerce subcommittee presses for faster permitting as BEAD rollout lags

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on permitting barriers to broadband deployment and recent changes to the federal BEAD program, with lawmakers and industry witnesses warning that slow reviews and agency restructuring are delaying construction and shifting projects away from fiber.

Committee Chairman Hudson opened the hearing by urging faster deployment and linking stalled projects to permitting delays, saying that, after nearly four years, “not a single home has been connected” under the current BEAD implementation. Witnesses from industry and nonprofit groups told members that long, duplicative reviews at the federal, state, and local levels are the chief obstacles to turning federal awards into shovels in the ground.

Why it matters: BEAD represents a federal investment intended to connect unserved and underserved homes and businesses. Witnesses and several members said permitting uncertainty, high local fees and recent changes to BEAD eligibility and program priorities by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have combined to slow or reshape…