January 25, 2022

Washington House Committee on Local Government
Washington State Capitol
416 Sid Snyder Avenue SW
Olympia, Washington 98504

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the 49,792 members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste in Washington, I urge you to support HB 1722, which would help expand the deployment of fiber for broadband deployment in areas of the state where such deployment is feasible.

This bill requires cities, towns, and counties to permit the process of microtrenching to expand the use of fiber in the state.  Microtrenching allows cable, including fiber optic cable, to be deployed using narrow and shallow trenches cut into roads and other surfaces as part of a broadband network’s infrastructure. 

As the bill notes, fiber is one of many options that play an essential role in the expansion of broadband access to unserved and underserved communities and enables connectivity for mobile broadband backhaul to the core network facility.  This legislation will help expand broadband in Washington by reducing some of the regulatory burdens that have impeded broadband deployment.   

Once again, I urge you to support HB 1722.

Sincerely,
Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW

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