On July 29, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Declaratory Ruling to clarify to important points regarding the Commission's pole attachment rules. The ruling prohibits "blanket bans" by utility pole owners on attachments to any portion of a pole. It also prohibits utility pole owners from requiring attachers to give up their rights under the law and the Commission's rules without receiving corresponding benefits. The Declaratory Ruling is a follow-up to the Commission's 2018 Wireline Infrastructure Order.
Blanket bans as well as attempts to coax attachers to give up their rights for no gain can significantly impede broadband infrastructure deployment. The FCC's Declaratory Ruling clears away those obstacles, and likely will facilitate speedier deployment to unserved Americans. The Commission should be credited for taking this action.
As mentioned in my July 28 blog post, the Commission is now considering a worthy petition that, if adopted, would reduce barriers to attaching fiber cables to replacement utility poles in unserved areas and expedite resolution of pole attachment complaints.
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