Senate Panel Hears Permitting Reform, Fiber Critical to Supporting AI Growth
Witnesses warn existing networks face mounting demand and call for faster infrastructure approvals
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2026 – The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is putting unprecedented pressure on U.S. communications networks, telecommunications leaders told a Senate panel Thursday.
Industry witnesses told officials of the Senate Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media that AI’s growing use across businesses and households is reshaping internet traffic in ways existing networks were not designed to handle, making broadband deployment and modernization increasingly urgent.
Bob Everson, chief architect for Cisco's provider mobility team, testified that artificial intelligence is not simply adding traffic to networks but changing its fundamental shape.
“AI workloads are not like traditional web traffic: they will change traffic shape, symmetry, duration, and criticality,” Everson said in testimony. “AI workloads are also twice as long in duration and significantly more upstream-heavy due to large, context-rich prompts.”
Everson cited internal Cisco research projecting a 209 percent increase in network traffic over the next three years, and said AI agents can generate up to four-and-a-half times more network traffic than a human performing the same task.
Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom, argued that meeting that demand will require Congress to reduce regulatory barriers to broadband deployment.
“Permitting is the single largest roadblock to delivering AI-ready connectivity in every community, and it is squarely within Congress’s power to address this year,” Spalter said in testimony.
Spalter urged the committee to pass the CLOSE THE GAP Act, the Broadband and Telecommunications RAIL Act, and the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act
The CLOSE THE GAP Act would streamline permitting rules for broadband projects on federal land and exempt corridors that have already been reviewed and previously used for other infrastructure from duplicative environmental analysis.
The Broadband and Telecommunications RAIL Act would set enforceable deadlines for railroads to respond to and schedule fiber crossing requests.
And, the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to build a tool that helps each state identify federal permits its subgrantees need under the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, and track their progress toward getting them.
Spalter cited examples from Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana and federal lands where permits sat unresolved for months or years, and pointed to a Big Bend National Park project delayed by a required review of forest resources, despite the park’s setting in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Spalter argued Congress and the FCC should apply the same shot clocks and fee caps the FCC adopted in 2018 for small wireless facilities to wireline. He pointed to the FCC’s 2018 Small Cell Order, which he said helped fuel a 110 percent jump in small cell deployment and paved the way for 5G.
“Nothing on the same scale has ever been done for wireline,” he said. “The playbook exists.”
Dan Watermeier, a member of the Nebraska Public Service Commission, emphasized fiber’s role in supporting AI-ready networks. He said the commission has focused on fiber deployments for a few reasons, including its scalability, ability to support other technologies, and its reliability during weather hazards and natural disasters.
He called for universally available broadband in order to support emerging AI applications.
“In Nebraska, AI could become a tremendous support for our agricultural producers,” Watermeier said in testimony. “Precision agriculture tools are fantastic ways to conserve water, monitor livestock health, and target application of fertilizers and pesticides, saving our farmers money and protecting the environment at the same time.”
Committee Chair Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., pointed to survey data showing that in 2024 nearly three-quarters of enterprises had adopted AI for at least one business function, and that more than half of Americans reported using generative AI tools in 2025.
That surge in usage, she said in remarks, has already strained network capacity, and demand will only grow as AI adoption matures beyond basic search functions into more complex enterprise use.
She flagged opaque rules and poor coordination between levels of government as obstacles standing in the way of building AI-ready networks.
