The proposal, which came from FCC chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday, essentially curtails the power held by state and local governments, giving them less time to deal with infrastructure rollout requests and limiting the fees they are able to charge. The move is clearly good news for the country's fibre builders, both big guns like AT&T and Verizon, and the growing number of regional players, all of whom are extending their footprints and hooking up buildings at a fair lick at present. But there will be naysayers, those who would prefer the various local authorities to retain greater control over the planning and permitting process. "Households and businesses won't get the modern services they need if deployment projects are tied up in excessive red tape," Carr said, in a statement. "It is clear from the input we've received in the public record that in far too many cases, America's broadband builders are facing excessive fees and unnecessary delays," he said. "We need to streamline and modernize permitting rules to build networks that work for the American people." Specifically, Carr has proposed giving state and local governments 120 days to process authorisation requests for wireline telecom service and infrastructure requests. Those that do not adhere to that timeframe will be considered to be prohibiting the project and will therefore be breaking the law. The law in question is Section 253 of the Communications Act. Back in September the FCC opened and inquiry into whether some state and local government requirements for fixed-line providers were effectively prohibiting the provision of wireline services in violation of Section 253. That could be through delays in processing applications, charging excessive fees, and the imposition of various other conditions that serve as a barrier to network builders. Carr's proposal is based on that investigation. In addition