FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – May 8, 2017 – Attorney Gary Resnick, a shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Fort Lauderdale law firm office, Mayor of Wilton Manors and immediate past chair of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at the hearing, "Investing in America’s Broadband Infrastructure: Exploring Ways to Reduce Barriers to Deployment," held on Wednesday, May 3, at the Russell Senate Office Building. The FCC and Senate are considering whether to preempt local governments, or to mandate certain processes, to support deployment of broadband facilities. In his testimony and responses to Senators’ questions, Mr. Resnick relayed that while local governments certainly support broadband technology and advanced services, they have important concerns with the deployment of such facilities particularly in public rights-of-way dealing with public safety, effects on other users of the rights-of-way and land use issues. Mr. Resnick noted that local governments know their communities best and are most equipped to work with the industry to balance these issues. Congress and the FCC should not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. The archived webcast of the testimony can be viewed online here.
