On Pole Attachments, Industry Groups Battle Over Cost Caps and Utility Control

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2025 — Pole deployments are the type of sleeper issue that could determine the time frame for deployment of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

And on that front, broadband providers and electric utilities filed competing positions with the Federal Communications Commission on the costs, contractor access and timeline.

Providers told the FCC that unpredictable invoices, responsibility for preexisting safety violations and lengthy contractor approval processes are slowing deployment, while utilities said the proposed reforms would create safety risks, disrupt grid operations and shift unrecoverable expenses onto power companies.

Comcast challenges Appalachian Power policy

Comcast, the country’s largest internet service provider by subscribers, asked the agency to halt Appalachian Power Co.’s pole-access rules in Virginia, saying the policy requires attachers to cover the full cost of replacing poles with preexisting third-party safety violations and limits reimbursement to 50 percent only if the original violator relocates to the new pole. Third-party safety violations are hazards - issues such as loose or low-hanging lines and damaged equipment - created by previous attachers, not the company seeking access to the pole.

Comcast said the requirements would jeopardize construction to 13,000 unserved and underserved locations funded by $126 million in BEAD grants and noted that it has roughly 2,300 pending applications with American Electric Power, an Ohio-based electric utility company. The cable provider expects to need access to thousands more poles to meet its deployment obligations in administering the program.