No Set Timeline for Large Pole Orders: Utilities

WASHINGTON, August 21, 2024 – Utility companies are urging the Federal Communications Commission not to set a blanket timeline for large pole attachment orders. Some broadband providers have supported such a change.

An ex parte filing from some of the nation’s biggest electric utility companies – including Duke Energy and Southern Company – said “adding even more regulatory deadlines to the Commission’s rules will do nothing to address the primary impediment to timely roll-out of large broadband deployments: the scarcity of approved contractor resources.” The companies met with officials from the Wireline Competition Bureau and commissioner Nathan Simington’s office on August 15.

They added a proposed deadline for large orders “ignores the fact that attaching entities cannot build their networks at the same pace they are demanding pole owners to process their applications. In many instances, attachers submit a high volume of applications, but then fail to construct their attachments in a timely fashion following notice from the utility to proceed.” The companies asked the agency to institute a deadline for attachers to get equipment onto poles following the make-ready process, after which the pole owner could nix the application.