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 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
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
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
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
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
New Order Eliminates Possible Disparity in Cable and Telecom Pole Attachment Rates In last week’s Order on Reconsideration, the FCC definitively closed the “telecom formula loophole” thereby ensuring that pole attachment...more
On Friday, October 30, 2015, the Assigned Commissioner to a rulemaking at the California Public Utility Commission (“CPUC”) issued a Proposed Decision to extend the state’s pole, conduit and right of way access rights to...more
On October 21, 2015, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (“WUTC”) adopted a comprehensive set of pole attachment rules (hereinafter “Pole Attachment Rules”), following a year-and-a-half-long rulemaking and...more
The Order recognizes that the deployment of communications networks and broadband infrastructure depends heavily on access to utility poles on reasonable rates, terms and conditions. Accordingly, the Order declined to...more
In recent separate actions, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (“PUCO”) and the Louisiana Public Service Commission (“LPSC”) adopted comprehensive pole attachment regulatory regimes intended to facilitate the deployment of...more