White House seeks to cut costs of broadband deployment

President Obama is signing an executive order Thursday to make construction of broadband networks along federal roadways and government properties less expensive and more efficient, the White House announced.

The directive would require the Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs departments, as well as the U.S. Postal Service, to provide a standardized way for carriers to lease federal assets for building cables and architecture for broadband networks.

The public will be able to track regional broadband construction projects on Permits.performance.gov, under the order. Departments must help carriers time the building of broadband infrastructure to periods when streets already are under construction, a move that could reduce network deployment costs along federal roadways by up to 90 percent.

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