The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially voted to reform its pole attachment rules and policies, after years of industry discourse surrounding the issue.
The Commission said the new rules will support faster resolution of pole attachment disputes and provide pole attachers with more information about the poles they plan to use as part of their broadband build outs. Utility poles are often owned by local electric companies or telephone companies.
Specifically, the reform aims to speed the FCC’s pole attachment dispute resolution process by establishing a rapid response team and providing the team with specific criteria to apply when considering complaints. The reformed rules will allow attachers to obtain pole inspection reports from utilities, in a move to “increase transparency for new broadband build outs,” the FCC said in a statement.
The Commission also provided new clarifications regarding what constitutes “red tagging,” or marking a pole for repair or replacement due to safety or compliance issues, and conditions under which replacing a utility pole is not solely required with the addition of a new attachment such as equipment or cables.
Additionally, the FCC is specifying the time frames or deadlines that apply when processing requests to attach equipment to utility poles, particularly when dealing with a large number of poles (3,000 or more). The Commission said it is still seeking additional comment on ways to further facilitate the approval process for pole attachment applications.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Carr, Starks, Simington and Gomez voted to approve the reforms. In a statement Rosenworcel said that while pole attachments “are not the most glamorous part of broadband deployment,” they are essential to bringing high-speed internet to everyone in the U.S.
“Our action today puts them in the spotlight,” she wrote.
Pole attachments have become a common cost concern for companies that want to deploy aerial fiber. Prior to this week’s vote, the Commission had an open proceeding on pole attachments since 2017.
In 2022, the FCC sought comments from telcos and utility companies about how the cost of pole replacements should be allocated between the pole owner and the attachers, and what would be the best process to add more attachments to existing poles, among other issues.
To date, the FCC has received a total of 4,227 comments on its pole attachment proceeding.
Pole attachment reform draws mixed industry response
Leading up to today’s final vote, industry groups and ISPs submitted divided comments on changes they sought for the FCC's initial 91-page proposal on pole attachment reform, which was published in November.
Charter and the NCTA– The Internet & Television Association were aligned in their suggestions, which they said would help “remove some of the most egregious infrastructure impediments to broadband deployment.”
Following the Commission’s vote to approve the new rules this week, Charter released a statement which said it “appreciates the FCC’s recognition of the importance of access to utility poles in facilitating broadband deployment.”
NCTA called the FCC’s vote “a first step towards removing obstacles that slow the construction of broadband networks in needy areas.” However, the NCTA added “other important issues still remain, including the fair allocation of the cost of pole replacements.”
INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering and ACA Connects CEO Grant Spellmeyer also lauded the FCC vote, with the latter commenting, “As we have documented, investor-owned utilities often stand in the way of that progress by inhibiting or even blocking providers’ access to their poles.”
Contrary to that view, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter in a statement urged policymakers to “resist calls for so-called pole replacement reform.’” Spalter added that the reformed rules would essentially “bail out those who fail to account for the basic costs of doing business in the broadband marketplace."
In its comments to the FCC last week, USTelecom sought several changes to reform proposal, among them removing a reference about depreciated poles. The group argued just because a pole is “fully depreciated,” it doesn’t mean the pole “already requires replacement at the time an attachment request is made.”
USTelecom also said it agreed with the FCC’s proposal to deny additional financial disclosures from pole owners, but it asked the agency to clarify its existing financial disclosure rules apply before a complaint is filed.
Verizon, which in the past year has voiced opposition to pole attachment reforms, said it “endorsed the views set out in the recent USTelecom advocacy.”
The carrier said it appreciates the Commission’s effort to “ultimately strike an appropriate balance,” while urging the FCC to “reject calls to change the allocation of pole-replacement costs that is contemplated in the existing rules and in the draft order.”