On July 26, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Public Notice announcing that new pole attachment rules, which the FCC adopted in a December 2023 Report and Order, are effective as of July 25, 2024....more
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
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
The New York Public Service Commission ("Commission") entered an Order this month authorizing municipally owned electric utilities to significantly increase the annual rental rates charged to cable system operators and...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
2021 was a very active year for regulatory developments related to communications infrastructure in California. Several proceedings of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) were intended to: (i) enhance...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
On June 28, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari filed by consortiums of various municipal governments and associations seeking to overturn the Ninth Circuit's decision in City of Portland v. FCC,...more
Oppose SB 556: Hearing Set for April 19 - Four years after California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 649, an industry-sponsored “small cell” bill, the wireless industry is back with another bill: SB 556....more
— Lone issue on 5G "aesthetics" in Small Cell Order remanded to FCC — Dissent limited to disagreeing with FCC's above-cost prohibitions on municipal fees in Small Cell Order - On August 12, 2020, a panel of the 9th Circuit in...more
Some Notable Changes Made to the "One Touch Make-Ready" Rules and Declaratory Ruling Prohibiting State and Local Moratoria on Wireline and Wireless Deployment - Note: This advisory has been updated to reflect that the ILEC...more
Pennsylvania will become the twenty-first state to certify to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it regulates third-party attachments to electric utility and telephone poles. ...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
Some Notable Changes Made to the “One Touch Make-Ready” Rules and Declaratory Ruling Prohibiting State and Local Moratoria on Wireline and Wireless Deployment - Late Friday the FCC released the text of its Third Report and...more
The FCC, at its Open Meeting today, adopted its Third Report and Order and Declaratory Ruling (“Order”) in the wireline infrastructure docket which, among other things, implements one-touch make-ready (“OTMR”) and prohibits...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
Back in 1998, California gave pole access rights to competitive carriers. With the explosion in demand for wireless broadband and the rise of 5G, California has recently expanded those access rights. The wireless companies...more
Highlighting the need for rapid infrastructure deployment to meet growing consumer data demands and support future 5G services, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) unanimously adopted a Report and Order at its...more
At its November 2017 Open Commission Meeting today, the FCC voted to adopt a Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its wireline broadband deployment docket (“Wireline R&O” and...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
The California Public Utilities Commission just opened a proceeding that may redefine the rights of wireless providers and wireless infrastructure providers to use utility poles and public rights of way. In addition, the CPUC...more