New ideas surfaced at the FCC's first Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee meeting for solving the industry's pole attachment problem and accelerating broadband deployments.

Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video

April 24, 2017

6 Min Read
Utility Poles Pose Problems for 5G & More

Pole attachment rules -- rules that govern how telecom companies can attach equipment to utility poles to deliver Internet and phone services -- are a huge problem for the broadband industry, and in recent years, the problem has taken center stage as new market entrants have faced off against incumbent ISPs over streamlining utility pole access.

Incumbents have won hard-fought battles for utility pole real estate in many regions, and they're loathe to make it easy for competitors to claim their own space on those poles in a bid to launch rival services. (See Gigabites: A Love Letter to Nashville.)

However, attachment rules aren't only a thorn in the side of newer service providers. Incumbent ISPs also have to extend the reach and capacity of their services, meaning that they too need to negotiate new access rights with local municipalities. In particular, the looming arrival of 5G technology means that telcos are racing both to densify their wired networks and install new nodes that will use that backhaul capacity to enable super-fast wireless connections.

Unfortunately, addressing pole attachment rules is tricky, and not just because of disputes between network operators. The biggest challenge to widespread new deployments is the fact that access to each utility pole site has to be negotiated individually, and the rules, timelines and costs associated with access vary dramatically from location to location. (See Broadband Has a Problem on the Pole.)

The FCC steps in
The result of the growing pole attachment problem is that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now decided to tackle the issue as part of a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Development, and through the formation of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). Any attempt at solving the problem will require significant collaboration among parties with very different goals. However, both the FCC and the broadband industry as a whole are motivated, even acknowledging that ISPs may have to compromise both with each other and with the municipalities they serve.

Figure 1: At the FCC's first BDAC meeting, pictured left to right: Elizabeth Pierce, CEO of Quintillion; Kelleigh Cole, director, Utah Broadband Outreach Center Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development; Ajit Pai, FCC chairman At the FCC's first BDAC meeting, pictured left to right: Elizabeth Pierce, CEO of Quintillion; Kelleigh Cole, director, Utah Broadband Outreach Center Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development; Ajit Pai, FCC chairman

At the first meeting of the BDAC last week, one idea in particular surfaced that is guaranteed to generate further discussion as the committee officially begins its work. Multiple committee members, both during the meeting and in outside discussions, suggested that there needs to be a shift from negotiating pole attachment rights on an individual basis to negotiating rights across an entire network deployment plan. In other words, as Digital Bridge Holdings CEO Marc Ganzi put it, ISPs should work with local governments to move from site-by-site reviews of pole attachment plans to a broader network review strategy that would speed up the permissions process.

The tradeoff for ISPs with this network review approach is that they would have to disclose their specific deployment plans to community officials. Typically, service providers are wary of sharing those details because it gives them less flexibility to make adjustments and because they worry about information leaking to competitors. However, a statement by Chris Bondurant, an assistant VP of construction and engineering operations at AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), at the BDAC meeting suggests that change is not impossible.

In fact according to Bondurant, he was able to use this specific approach of sharing a network roadmap with government officials as part of a Chicago network build-out.

"I built quite a few of these [small cells] a few years ago, and one of the things we did was sit down with Chicago and say hey, we know you don't want these everywhere, but this is our full plan. This is our network ... This is what we want to build," said Bondurant. "And I think we got credibility because we never really deviated from when we sat down and said this is what we're going to build. And if we did deviate we'd go back to the city and say hey this is what we need and here's why. And I think that piece is very important."

Next page: Municipalities have a lot to learn

Municipalities have a lot to learn
Several committee members also agree that educating municipalities will play a crucial role in speeding up future deployments. Even though communities universally want better local broadband access, competing priorities can get in the way. Limited government resources, the need in many cases to bring in revenue from utility pole licensing and the headaches of new construction when it's needed to extend network capacity all contribute to slowing down the pole attachment process.

"It seems to me like we have a problem of needing to educate the players in this area ... We're right at 180 days on trying to get an amendment to our franchise agreement in a major American city for small cell because the key decision makers at the municipal level do not understand small cell," explained Kelly McGriff, general counsel for Southern Light, a telecom provider based out of Alabama.

He added, "Another major American city has told us they've placed a moratorium on small cell, even though we are a public utility in the state where we're seeking to deploy."

For more fixed broadband market coverage and insights, check out our dedicated Gigabit/Broadband content channel here on Light Reading.

Education is one thing, but where the BDAC may face intractable opposition is if and when it tries to mandate an approach to pole attachment rules that would override state and local government policies. On the one hand, unified practices across the country would make it much easier for network operators to speed up deployments. On the other hand, state and local officials don't like to be overruled by the federal government.

"The municipalities hear 'preemption,'" and they're also worried about losing revenue from franchise fees, noted Christopher Yoo, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "We have to take seriously a way to make this work for all of the key stakeholders who have to sign off on this to make it happen."

To that point, the FCC has asked for comment on the idea of preemption as part of a new Notice of Inquiry (NOI) released at the same time as the wireline broadband NPRM. The move suggests the Commission is open to the idea. However, the makeup of the FCC today also makes federal intervention appear far less likely than it might have been a year ago. (See FCC Broadband Panel Starts on Shaky Ground.)

The NOI seeks comment on using the FCC's preemption authority to prospectively prohibit the enforcement of state and local laws that pose barriers to broadband deployment.

With the FCC's NPRM and NOI posted for public comment, the agency has parallel efforts underway to determine the next best steps for accelerating broadband deployments, and the BDAC will play a crucial role in guiding the process. The BDAC's working groups will start collaborating over the next few weeks, while the next public BDAC meeting is currently scheduled for July 20.

— Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Mari Silbey

Senior Editor, Cable/Video

Mari Silbey is a senior editor covering broadband infrastructure, video delivery, smart cities and all things cable. Previously, she worked independently for nearly a decade, contributing to trade publications, authoring custom research reports and consulting for a variety of corporate and association clients. Among her storied (and sometimes dubious) achievements, Mari launched the corporate blog for Motorola's Home division way back in 2007, ran a content development program for Limelight Networks and did her best to entertain the video nerd masses as a long-time columnist for the media blog Zatz Not Funny. She is based in Washington, D.C.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like