STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI
January 31, 2017
Re: Formation of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC)
  Last September, I proposed what I called a Digital Empowerment Agenda—a blueprint of 
policies that would accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet access, or broadband, in 
communities across the country.
1
  
Today, I am excited to announce the formation of the Broadband Deployment Advisory 
Committee (BDAC), which will aim to provide advice and recommendations to the FCC on how to do 
just that.  The BDAC’s mission will be to identify regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment and to 
make recommendations to the Commission on reducing and/or removing them.  
One of the first things the BDAC will be asked to do is draft for the Commission’s consideration
a model code for broadband deployment. This model code will cover topics like local franchising, 
zoning, permitting, and rights-of-way regulations.  Building, upgrading, and deploying broadband 
networks isn’t easy, and red tape often can make the task harder than it needs to be. Similarly, many 
localities that have a strong interest in promoting a digital economy within their borders may not have the 
resources or expertise to develop and implement deployment-friendly policies.  Consumers ultimately pay 
the price in terms of less access to next-generation services.  Our hope is that with a model code approved 
by the FCC, one that any city could use as a template, the case for broadband deployment would be much 
easier, especially for communities that seek to proactively encourage it.  
We’ve already filed the necessary paperwork to stand up the BDAC, with plans to convene its 
first meeting this spring.  Two dedicated members of the FCC staff, Brian Hurley and Paul D’Ari, have 
agreed to be the Committee’s Designated Federal Officer and Deputy Designated Federal Officer
respectively, and I’d like to thank them for their commitment to these efforts.  But we also need your
help.  The Commission will be releasing a Public Notice with more details about the Committee’s work 
and an explanation of the member-selection process.  I encourage interested members of the public to 
apply and to be ready to share your best ideas in order to help bring digital opportunity to all Americans.     
                                                     
1
See Remarks of Commissioner Ajit Pai at the Brandery: “A Digital Empowerment Agenda” (Sept. 13, 2016), 
available at https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-341210A1.pdf (discussing proposals); see also
Summary of Commissioner Pai’s Digital Empowerment Agenda (Sept. 13, 2016), 
https://www.fcc.gov/document/commissioner-pais-digital-empowerment-agenda/summary (summarizing proposals).