On December 15, 2023, after more than three years of consideration, and amid the largest ever federal investment in broadband, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) unanimously adopted a new pole-attachment order that...more
On December 15, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text of its long awaited Fourth Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing pole replacement...more
After more than three years of consideration, amidst the largest federal and state investment in broadband deployment, and anticipating disputes between broadband providers and utility pole owners concerning the terms and...more
On February 17, 2023, Georgetown Broadband LLC (GBLLC) became the latest community broadband entity to receive pole attachment authorization from the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to deploy a fiber broadband...more
On June 13, 2022, the FCC provided notice that the State of Florida has become the 24th state (including the District of Columbia) to certify state-level regulatory jurisdiction over rates, terms, and conditions for pole...more
On April 28, the governor of Oklahoma approved HB3835, setting a maximum pole attachment rate for rural electric cooperatives (Rural Coops) in the event of a dispute with a "communications services provider" regarding pole...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has circulated for consideration at its March 16 open meeting a draft Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) seeking comment on whether the agency should further...more
Update November 23, 2021: This blog has been updated to reflect current guidance about the status of bill amendments in each state. This legislative session we're witnessing similar types of bills that aim to level the...more
On September 21, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued the latest single in its anthology of decisions regulating the relationship between incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and electric utilities,...more
This legislative session we're witnessing similar types of bills that aim to level the playing field between pole attaching entities and pole owners—including cooperatives and municipalities—by capping rates and requiring...more
On Monday August 12, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Enforcement Bureau issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in MAW Communications, Inc. v. PPL Electric Utilities Corp., finding that PPL had unlawfully denied...more
In a move affecting nearly every type of dispute brought to the agency, the FCC adopted a Report and Order (“Order”) at its July meeting establishing a streamlined set of formal complaint rules. The new rules cover complaints...more
After a year of heated debate between pole owners and service providers, the FCC is poised to adopt a one-touch make-ready (“OTMR”) process for the “vast majority” of pole attachments at its meeting on August 2, 2018. Late...more
New “One Touch Make-Ready” Regime Proposed with Shortened Timeframes and Revised Terms for Completing Pole Attachment - Draft Declaratory Ruling Would Prohibit State and Local Moratoria on Wireline and Wireless Deployment...more
On October 26, 2017, the FCC released drafts of a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the wireline broadband deployment docket (the “Draft Wireline Order” and “Draft Wireline FNPRM”) and a Report and...more
On August 16, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky granted summary judgment in favor of the Louisville Metro Council to uphold the city’s recently-enacted ordinance amendments providing for...more
In the first decision to consider the legality of a “one touch” make-ready ordinance, a federal district court in Kentucky upheld a City of Louisville law authorizing new attachers to utility poles to rearrange the pole...more
On Monday, July 31, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in a unanimous opinion, affirmed the FCC’s November 2015 Order on Reconsideration closing the “telecom formula loophole” to ensure that pole...more
On March 30, 2017, the FCC released a draft of a combined Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comment designed to facilitate and accelerate the deployment of next generation broadband networks....more
In late February, the Texas Court of Appeals issued an opinion resolving an eight-year dispute concerning municipal pole attachment fees charged to AT&T and Time Warner Cable (TWC) by CPS Energy (CPS), an electric utility...more
At today’s open meeting the FCC adopted a Report and Order that streamlines and eliminates Part 32 accounting requirements governing price-cap carriers, allowing them instead to rely on GAAP accounting methods and thus...more
The FCC has advised a federal district court that the City of Louisville, Kentucky’s “one-touch” make-ready ordinance does not violate the pole attachment provisions of federal law. Companies seeking to build new...more
On June 24, 2016, the Arkansas Public Service Commission (“Commission”) adopted a comprehensive set of new pole attachment rules that apply broadly to providers of electric, telecommunications, cable television, internet...more
The FCC’s modification to the telecommunications carrier pole attachment rate formula have been published in the Federal Register and are set to take effect on March 4, 2016. As we reported in December, the FCC issued an...more
On November 24, 2015, the FCC issued an Order on Reconsideration (“Reconsideration Order”) updating the telecommunications carrier pole attachment formula in its rules. The Reconsideration Order granted a four-year old...more