Right-of-Way

Reduce the costs associated with obtaining right-of-way access in order to promote investment in new telecommunications infrastructure.

Summary of the Issue

Businesses, particularly telecommunications providers, depend on affordable and timely access to public lands in order to deploy services. High-speed Internet lines that cross public terrain provide broadband access to people across the country. Similarly, phone towers on federally-owned land ensure uninterrupted cellular phone service. Access to public lands is critical to telecommunications infrastructure and, as such, procedures that govern right-of-way to these lands have a profound impact on both businesses and consumers.

Rental fees for accessing federal lands are often artificially high. In some localities, fees are based on the amount of commerce carried over telecommunications lines, not the value of the land on which the lines are located. These pricing practices, which result in costly fees, discourage companies from investing in new infrastructure. Rental fees for right-of-way should be based on traditional land valuation methods such as cost and maintenance.
 
Fair pricing practices will lead to lower right-of-way fees and will speed deployment of telecommunications services at a time when our nation is striving to boost technological investment. To this end, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce advocates for the introduction of legislation that would create a federal right-of-way fee schedule that is based on the fair market value of the land to be traversed.