The White House released a progress report Monday on the President's executive order facilitating the deployment of broadband on Federal lands, buildings, and rights of way, federally assisted highways, and tribal lands.
The Administration sited improvements in "1) coordinating consistent and efficient Federal broadband procedures, requirements, and policies; 2) improving efficiency by coordinating use of one or more uniform contract, application, and permit terms (related to broadband infrastructure deployment); and 3) fostering deployment of conduit for broadband facilities in conjunction with Federal or federally assisted highway construction (i.e., 'Dig Once')."
The interactive map "displays all GSA owned buildings and lands, with point of contact information, where a commercial antenna installation might be sited." For example, it could identify a federal building where an antenna could be placed.
It also released several new tools to make that easier, including an interactive map, dig once guide and "broadband inventory toolkit."
As part of the President's initiative to promote wireless and wired broadband, the President issued an executive order in June 2012 to ease permitting and application for use of federal property and rights of way, which he said can be essential to deployment of both.
The Dig Once guide is meant to provide policies and best practices to coordinate deployment when streets are already under construction. The broadband inventory toolkit is supposed to be a "one-stop shop" for navigating the permitting process and lease agreements.
