CABLE Expansion Act Forces Local Governments to Approve Utility Requests in 90 to 150 Days

The new legislation, officially titled the Connecting And Building Lines for Expedited Expansion Act (CABLE Expansion Act), aims to significantly speed up how fast cable companies can deploy or upgrade their infrastructure. Essentially, this bill is about putting local governments on a very tight clock when a cable operator asks permission to install or modify equipment.

The Clock Starts Now: Cutting the Red Tape

Section 2 of the CABLE Expansion Act doesn't take away the local franchising authority’s right to decide where cable equipment—which the bill calls "covered facilities"—goes. But it severely limits the time they have to make that decision. Think of it like this: your cable company wants to put a new box or run new lines down your street, and the city council used to take its sweet time reviewing the plan. Now, they can’t.

Specifically, if the cable company wants to use existing structures that already support communication lines ("eligible support infrastructure"), the local authority gets only 90 days to approve or deny the request. If the request involves new construction or infrastructure without existing lines, they get 150 days. The bill is clear: these deadlines are hard stops. Local authorities cannot pause or "toll" the clock for any reason. For the cable provider, this is a huge win, potentially meaning faster service upgrades and less time waiting on bureaucracy.

The 10-Day Trap Door

Perhaps the most impactful procedural change is how the application clock starts. When a cable company submits a request, the local authority has just 10 business days to review it and send a written notice detailing exactly what information is missing. If the local government misses that 10-day window, the application is automatically considered "complete" on the day it was received, and the 90- or 150-day countdown begins immediately. For busy city planning departments, this is a serious administrative burden that could easily lead to rushed decisions or overlooked details.

Local Control vs. Speed

While the bill maintains that local authorities still control the placement of these facilities (SEC. 2), it includes a key caveat: they cannot enforce rules that effectively stop a cable operator from providing or improving the service they promised under their existing franchise agreement. This is designed to prevent local governments from using aesthetic rules or complex permitting processes to slow down service improvements indefinitely. However, it also means that local planning and community input might get squeezed out. If a local authority denies a request, they must put the decision in writing, back it up with "solid evidence" found in their official records, and release it publicly right away. The concern here is that 90 or 150 days might not be enough time for communities to conduct thorough reviews, especially for complex projects, potentially leading to infrastructure decisions being rushed through without sufficient local oversight or coordination with other municipal services.