Wheeler Emphasizes Zoning, Rights-of-Way Issues in Speech to Local Telecom Officials

摘要

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler called on local government officials in an Oct. 1 speech to update their guidelines on the use of public rights of way (ROW) for communications services, and he emphasized local zoning approvals as an area in which governments can act to encourage broadband deployment. Speaking at the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors conference in St. Paul, Minn., Chairman Wheeler acknowledged the pending petitions by local governments in Wilson, N.C., and Chattanooga, Tenn., for FCC preemption of state laws that restrict their ability to expand public broadband networks. He contrasted those laws and similar laws in 17 other states with a more muni broadband-friendly approach taken by the conference host-state of Minnesota.