Brian O’Hara

Pole Attachment Disputes Over Costs, Timelines and Safety at Broadband Breakfast Event

Industry officials clashed over pole replacement costs, make-ready timelines, and federal regulatory authority.

Broadband Breakfast

Broadband Breakfast

— 4 min read
Pole Attachment Disputes Over Costs, Timelines and Safety at Broadband Breakfast Event
Photo by Ian Taylor published with permission

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2026 — Broadband providers and a representative of an electric utility disagreed Wednesday over who should pay for pole replacements, how fast make-ready work should happen, and whether federal regulators are helping or overstepping.

At a Broadband Breakfast Live Online event, industry officials and academics weighed in on a fight that could determine whether the nation's largest-ever broadband subsidy program meets its deadlines.

And an official representing the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which controls many poles, warned that its members’ infrastructure is not a public utility for the broadband industry to commandeer.

Broadband Breakfast on April 8, 2026 - Pole Attachments and Rights-of-Way
How can policymakers expedite pole attachments for BEAD deployments while addressing utility concerns about costs, safety, and liability?
Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast
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Brian O’Hara Pole Attachments BBLO permitting Michael Santorelli Nirali Patel Steve Morris FCC Ryan Kudera

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