Participation and success in the 21st century economy are dependent on access to high speed internet, something our nation’s rural areas disproportionately lack. The efforts of our federal delegation to pass the Infrastructure Law and the American Rescue Plan Act will finally offer New Hampshire an opportunity to close our own digital divide. Thanks to this legislation, our state will receive well over $100 million to bring broadband to our unserved and underserved communities, but without standardizing utility pole access rules it is possible these communities will continue to be left waiting.
Unfortunately, in New Hampshire and across the country outdated utility pole access rules stand in the way of expanding broadband access quickly and efficiently. Utility poles may fly under the radar but they play a critical role in expanding broadband infrastructure to rural and other underserved communities. These poles serve as the cornerstone of our communications infrastructure and internet service providers will need to be given access to poles to make the necessary upgrades. Internet service providers are able to quickly offer access to broadband by using existing poles, but the providers in many cases don’t own these poles, so they must seek access from pole owners, who vary from local municipalities, electric companies or small utilities and co-ops. As I have seen at the local level, expanding broadband is often held up due to a lack of clear rules to resolve disputes over cost sharing, upkeep and other potential issues.
The current pole access process creates permitting delays and incentivizes disagreement. We need the federal government to establish rules to make good on the infrastructure law’s promise of universal connectivity. First, we need to establish a clearer cost-splitting standard so that the price for repairing poles is split fairly – this will minimize the time spent negotiating costs and expedite broadband deployment. Secondly, in the circumstances in which disagreements over cost-splitting persist, Congress should establish a mediation system to resolve disputes quickly.
While an unclear process holds up these important upgrades, the unserved Granite State families for whom this funding was intended continue to go without the internet services they need. Thanks to leaders like Senators Hassan and Shaheen for ensuring states like ours have access to the monumental $65 billion in infrastructure federal funds. Now we need to capitalize on this historic opportunity, by eliminating the red tape and creating a fair, uniform process to expedite broadband access as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law intended. By enacting these straightforward solutions, we can work to close the digital divide for Granite Staters and rural communities across America.
Prentiss represents Senate District 5 in the N.H. Statehouse.