Government Could Make Broadband Deployment Easier, Witnesses To Tell Congress

“Despite the clear demand for high-speed services, investment in network infrastructure is not for the faint of heart,” Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., plans to say in his opening statement. “A staggering amount of capital is required to deploy fiber, antennas, routers, and switches to build a network with useful scale. Those who invest often won’t see returns for years; and the return comes only if the service satisfies enough customers to keep them coming back. There are real challenges to investing in broadband infrastructure, our laws shouldn’t be among them.”

“Policymakers can do more to help reduce delays associated with obtaining adequate information and make-ready work, and increasing access to existing conduit and rights of way,” Google Fiber Cities Director Michael Slinger plans to testify. “Local governments can take pole maintenance one step further, by proactively working with third parties to create space on the pole for providers. For example, in cities with a municipally owned utility, the utility could perform make-­ready work as part of its standard maintenance program and at the same time increase space for new providers. And any city could take action to expedite network builds by requiring ‘one touch’ relocations in their public right of way, whereby when relocations of multiple providers' attachments on a pole are required, all such moves would be made at the same time by use of authorized contractors.” Slinger also will focus on access to rights of way and the “unreasonably” high costs for accessing video programming.

“This densification of wireless infrastructure plays a critical role in meeting wireless data demand,” PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein will say, according to his written testimony. “In fact, infrastructure appears poised to play the largest role of any of the available solutions in the next five years, and perhaps more, to address the wireless data crunch.” Adelstein will focus on the many benefits of increasing access to spectrum and improving its efficiency and favorably praise wireless legislation from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “One suggestion for Congress to consider that would alleviate roadblocks to wireless siting at the local level would be removing requirements that a provider demonstrate ‘proof-of-need’ or show a “gap-in-service” when siting a wireless facility,” Adelstein will say. He also will encourage Congress to take on bipartisan net neutrality legislation.

Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of Arizona’s Gila River Indian Community, plans to outline the difficulties of building out on tribal lands and discuss his experiences with Gila River Telecom. “In addition to density and terrain, tribal lands face unique rights-of-way issues that can cause delay in deployment as well as substantially increase the cost,” Lewis will say. He plans to mention the “access to capital” challenges faced on tribal lands, where “reservation lands cannot be leveraged as collateral for securing loans” and “most private lenders will not loan money to tribally-owned providers seeking to build infrastructure on tribal lands.” He will urge tribal consultation and engagement and praise the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy.

One “broader take-away” that senior research analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson will outline “is that the returns to be had from overbuilding -- that is, being the second or third broadband provider in a given market -- are generally poor,” according to his written testimony. “Let that sink in for a moment. Stated simply, it means that market forces are unlikely to yield a competitive broadband market.” He also will mention the “unprecedented pressure” the cable industry faces. “Pressure on the video profit pool will therefore naturally trigger a pricing response in broadband, where cable operators will have greater pricing leverage,” he will say.

Next Century Cities Executive Director Deb Socia intends to give several concrete recommendations for policymakers -- provide a national platform, mandate national data collection and encourage local competitive markets, she will say. She plans to discuss the group’s efforts in forming best practices and the recommendations for state lawmakers, too.

Telecom Industry Association CEO Scott Belcher wants the subcommittee leadership to remember the growing complexity of broadband, he wrote in a recent letter to the lawmakers. “TIA anticipates that potential users are likely to be prepared to contract for a variety of broadband speeds and capacities that are tied specifically to the particular applications they value,” wrote Belcher, who's not testifying. “For example, mobile broadband users clearly prefer the convenience of not being tethered to a fixed connection over speed. Email, and even video streaming, may not be sufficient to encourage consumers to adopt the FCC’s new preferred broadband standard. Yet, in the near-term future, TIA anticipates that the distinction between ‘Mobile’ and ‘Fixed’ will become less clear as more traffic moves to ‘Heterogeneous Networks.’”

“With new players and incumbents looking to invest in infrastructure and compete for customers on the networks of tomorrow, the federal government should find ways to encourage deployment and eliminate barriers,” Walden will say. “Despite repeated calls to facilitate access to federal lands and buildings, to simplify and expedite access to utility poles, and improve the process for tower and cell siting, these still present hurdles to efficient investment and deployment. Nor have we solved the issues that come with deploying on tribal lands, where the need to improve the communications network is very real.”