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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Tired of butting heads with U.S. state and local governments over when and how they are allowed to dig up public streets and install high-speed connections, some U.S. broadband-network builders are calling for the federal government to mandate a national system for obtaining permits. Meanwhile, some government officials say this process must be done on a local level in order to balance all of the interests involved.

This back-and-forth over rights of way, which is what permissions to install communications lines beneath public grounds are called, was the subject of a panel discussion here Thursday sponsored by the Congressional Internet Caucus, a group of 170 members of Congress focused on Internet issues.

Obtaining rights of way is crucial to the future of broadband network development, said Martin Stern, cofounder of the Telecommunications Industry Rights of Way Working Group (I-ROW), an industry organization designed to tackle hurdles related to building telecommunication networks. Member companies include AT&T, BellSouth, Level 3 Communications, Qwest Communications International, Sprint, and Verizon Communications.

But because rights of way are managed at the state or local level, there is no set process for obtaining permits or determining the cost of those permits, Stern said. His group has promoted the concept of developing a uniform plan for obtaining permits, based on swift response from government entities and fees that correspond to actual costs incurred.

"The issue ... demands national attention and a national answer," Stern said.

One Plan to Rule Them All?

A single, federal plan for granting rights of way won't work, argued Marilyn Praisner, a council member of Montgomery County in Maryland, because conditions and costs vary dramatically across the country. Digging up a street in a rural Midwest town would not incur the same level of cost or inconvenience to residents as laying underground lines in a major metropolitan area, she said.

Managing rights of way should be done at a local level because there are considerations beyond the telecom providers' interests that must be balanced, Praisner added. "There's public interest--every cut in a roadway shortens the life of that roadway," she said, adding that telecom lines must also compete for space with other infrastructure such as water mains and gas lines.

Yet local governments have been inconsistent in how they have wielded their authority in granting rights of way, which led the state of Michigan to institute a uniform policy, said Robert Nelson, Michigan's public service commissioner. "Certain communities were charging fees unrelated to [costs], delaying permits, and asking for unrelated conditions," Nelson said. The statewide plan calls for a 45-day turnaround to process rights of way permits and eliminates redundant charges if a provider wants to offer more than one service on its lines, such as cable Internet access in addition to cable video, Nelson said.

Telecommunications companies are guilty of abusing the system as well, Praisner said. When the telecom industry was in better financial shape a few years ago, many companies requested rights of way while promising to bring high-speed Internet connections to a region's residents. Not all of these companies lived up to their promises, and there's plenty of "dark fiber" that has been installed but remains unused, she said.

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