Roth: New Permitting Tool Will Fast-Track Nearly All BEAD Projects

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2025 — Federal officials are betting that a new permitting tool will fast-track 95 percent of projects funded through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

“We introduced a new permanent tool called the Environmental Screening and Permitting Tracking Tool,” Arielle Roth, the administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said during remarks Monday at the 2025 SCTE TechExpo in Washington.

“The idea was to create a one-stop shop – an automated process for companies to answer a series of questions, with the tool then able to issue a categorical exclusion, to reduce delays in processing,” Roth said. “We anticipate that 95 percent of BEAD projects will qualify for an exclusion under this tool.”

She noted, however, that “the obstacles aren’t just federal – they’re also state and local. We need creative ways to speed up those processes: permitting, pole access, access to easements. That’s what we’re looking at right now.”

Roth said the changes made in June by the Trump administration “speak for themselves,” pointing to the elimination of “extraneous mandates.” She cited “ $15 billion in savings for the American taxpayer.

She criticized the Biden administration for taking “their eyes off the prize,” focusing instead on “extraneous issues” such as rate regulation, climate change and unionized labor.

According to Roth, those issues “detract from the goal of universal access,” creating “extreme technology biases” that raise costs and distort the market.

Roth also touted “increased participation, lower per-location costs and fewer locations to serve, with the private sector stepping up over the past few years.”

Moderating the discussion, former Federal Communications Commissioner Mike O’Rielly pressed Roth on her goals for the program. Roth said BEAD serves to connect every last American.

On the final offer process NTIA was imposing on states to lower costs on their final proposals, Roth said the agency has given states “considerable deference” on what qualifies as a priority broadband project.

But when projects appear “excessively costly,” she said, NTIA was “asking existing providers who already participated in bidding for a particular area to submit their best and final offers.”