Telecom Leaders Say Permitting Reform Is Key to AI-Ready Fiber Networks

As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure accelerates, outdated permitting processes are slowing deployment of the fiber networks needed to support it, telecommunications leaders told senators during a July 30 hearing.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 th