As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure accelerates, outdated permitting processes are slowing deployment of the fiber networks needed to support it, telecommunications leaders told senators during a July 30 hearing.
Witnesses before the Senate Commerce Committee’s Telecommunications and Media Subcommittee said the United States already has the technology and private-sector investment needed to expand fiber networks. The biggest challenge, they argued, is a permitting system that can delay construction for months or years, slowing deployment of the infrastructure needed to support AI.
“AI runs on infrastructure, and infrastructure runs on fiber,” Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said, warning that growing AI demand requires removing barriers to broadband deployment.
Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom, said permitting reform, cybersecurity, and sustainable broadband funding are all essential to preparing the nation’s communications infrastructure for AI.
But he argued that modernizing permitting rules would have the most immediate impact by allowing providers to deploy fiber networks faster.
“The biggest barrier to building the broadband infrastructure our country needs isn’t technology or investment … It’s outdated permitting processes,” Spalter said.
Spalter said providers often spend more time waiting for permits than actually constructing broadband networks. He urged Congress to establish consistent permitting timelines and modernize federal, state, Tribal, and local review processes while preserving environmental and historic review requirements.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., echoed those concerns, saying lengthy permitting reviews continue to slow infrastructure projects nationwide. She said establishing reasonable permitting “shot clocks” would help communities gain broadband access more quickly while supporting economic growth.
Other witnesses echoed that assessment, arguing that permitting delays threaten the deployment of the fiber infrastructure needed to support AI.
Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Dan Watermeier said permitting delays are especially consequential because fiber remains the only broadly deployable technology capable of supporting AI-era traffic.
“Not every technology can easily meet the FCC’s current 100 by 20 technology threshold. Meanwhile, fiber optic networks can greatly exceed these speed thresholds and are capable of meeting our needs into the foreseeable future,” Watermeier said.
Cisco’s Bob Everson also argued that providers are ready to build, but outdated permitting processes continue to delay deployment.
“The sooner we can speed that permitting process along, the better, because then we can get to the work of deploying those resources,” he said.