- The House could soon vote on a permitting bill
- The telecom industry may cheer for new permitting regulation
- But local groups claim it stomps all over local municipalities’ right to govern
The broadband industry may soon cheer if Congress legislates permitting reform. The industry has long complained that permitting processes across a multitude of federal, state and local jurisdictions are incredibly cumbersome. Now, Congress may act to streamline all of that. However, a host of local organizations are vehemently opposed to the federal government steamrolling over their municipal rules and regulations.
Congress considered multiple proposed bills to address broadband permitting. But a few months ago, they all got rolled into the House bill H.R. 2289 — the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025. And there’s a good chance that members of the House of Representatives will vote on that bill soon. If it passes the House, it will then go to the Senate, and ultimately to the President’s desk.
H.R. 2289 would codify strict timelines, varying from 60 to 150 days, for local governments to approve or deny wireless and wireline facility requests. If a locality misses its deadline, the permit is automatically approved once the applicant sends written notice of the failure. Essentially, the "deemed granted" mechanism means silence on the part of a locality equals approval.
The bill also applies similar streamlining for new cable franchise requests
In addition, under H.R. 2289, a broad set of "covered projects" are exempted from environmental impact statements and historic preservation consultations. And the laws are also loosened for tribal approvals, in favor of industry.
This bill will probably be uniformly cheered by the telecom industry. But there’s also a lot of opposition.
A group of organizations representing U.S. cities and counties sent a letter to House leaders on April 16, expressing their opposition to the bill.
They wrote, “By imposing rigid federal ‘shot clocks’ and restricting local authorities’ ability to negotiate fair compensation for the use of public property, H.R. 2289 creates a framework that prioritizes communication companies’ shareholder value at the expense of the safety and financial interests of the communities and the taxpayers they serve.”
Mike Lynch, legal and regulatory affairs director with the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), said, “H.R. 2289 is an unprecedented and dangerous usurpation of local governments’ authority to manage public rights-of-way and land use.”
He told Fierce, “It’s a giveaway to the industry.” The bill favors cable, wireless and broadband providers, but imposes no obligations on these providers to serve unserved and underserved areas.
Asked if the bill has a good chance of passing, Lynch said, “We think it’s close.” But he added that many members of Congress got their start in local government, so they may find it unsavory to take away municipal control over their own locales.
All of this is a bit reminiscent of the wireless preemption order in 2018, which expedited permitting for 5G small cells. But those rules were established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
H.R. 2289 — the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025 would be law enacted by Congress with more sweeping effects.