LEVERAGING YOUR ASSETS AND CREATING PARTNERSHIPS FOR BUILDING FIBER

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LEVERAGING YOUR ASSETS AND CREATING PARTNERSHIPS
FOR BUILDING FIBER

• ITS ABOUT THE POLES STUPID
• BROADBAND COMMUNITIES SUMMIT 2013
• April 16, 2013
• Sean Stokes
• The Baller Herbst Law Group, P.C.
• 2014 P Street, N.W.
• Washington, D.C. 20036
• [phone]
• sstokes_at_Baller.com
• www.Baller.com

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The Big Picture
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Federal Pole Attachment Regulations -- 47 U.S.C.
224

• Regulate rates, terms and conditions of access
  for wired and wireless attachments to utility
  poles by telecommunications carriers and cable
  operators
• Rules apply to poles, ducts, conduits and ROW
  owned by investor-owned (private) utilities
• Rates Two formulas Cable only (not really)
  and Telecom. In 2011 the FCC revised Telecom
  formula to yield essentially same rate as Cable
  formula
• Access Prescribed timelines for access to poles
• Cost causer pays

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Yup Yup Nope
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What the Federal Attachment Rules Dont Do

• Federal rules dont apply in 21 states that have
  reverse preempted the FCC and regulate at the
  state level.
• Federal rules dont apply to municipal or
  cooperatively owned utilities -- 47 U.S.C.
  224(a)(1)
• Federal rules dont provide attachment rights to
  stand-alone broadband or dark fiber services
• Federal rules dont apply to utility fiber

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• If they want broadband so bad why dont the
  municipals just get out of the way and let us
  build?

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OH
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Public Power Utilities

• View safety, security and reliability of their
  electric system as top priority
• View poles and conduit as a community asset
• Want to encourage broadband deployment
• Want (and have an obligation) on behalf of their
  consumer owners to obtain cost recovery
• Provide access to all types of service providers
  voice, video and data on similar terms and
  conditions

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Leveraging Municipal Utility Assets

• Bring the utility in to the planning process
  early
• Dont assume that utility and municipality have
  identical interests
• Dont confuse access to ROW with access to assets
• Allow for in-kind consideration and where
  possible monetize the value of such services
• Dont get tripped up by non-discrimination or
  level playing field clauses