Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr urged the agency to take additional steps to streamline broadband deployments as it began a rulemaking process aimed at alleviating pole attachment issues plaguing rollouts.
The rulemaking, which was unanimously approved by the Commission this week, seeks stakeholder input on when and how utilities and those seeking to attach to their poles should share the cost of pole replacements.
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement that with the way things stand today, some operators building broadband in underserved areas “have told us that the cost of these pole attachments can make up as much as one-third of the cost of rural deployment.” With billions in federal funding being doled out for broadband “it’s essential that we have policies in place that make sure these dollars are used in a cost-effective way and that pole attachment policies facilitate, rather than impede, broadband buildout,” she said.
The FCC’s move was lauded by the likes of NCTA – The Internet & Television Association and Altice USA. The latter particularly noted in a statement to Fierce “delays, costs and disputes related to pole attachments and replacements have been consistent barriers to our efforts to connect new households and businesses to high-speed Optimum and Suddenlink Internet service.”
But Carr noted that while he’s happy with the FCC’s action, there remains a loophole for municipal and cooperative utilities. “Unlike what we are doing in today’s item, there is a strong argument that Section 224 does not give us authority to address issues specific to those types of poles,” he said in a statement. Carr encouraged Congress to “revisit the exemption that exists in Section 224” to ensure the FCC can streamline the pole attachment process across the board.
He added the FCC should also explore a move to set limits on the fees municipalities can charge broadband providers to access their rights of way. The Commission previously made a similar move to cap fees for small cell infrastructure to facilitate 5G rollouts.
“We should begin to explore similar action for the deployment of other, wired infrastructure to ensure that the funding being made available by Congress and the FCC goes into the ground and towards connecting families,” he concluded.