Proposed DC Pole-Attachment Rules Hurt Cable, Says Comcast

of Title 15 of the D.C. Municipal Regulations on pole-attachment disputes between public utilities and cable operators. Comcast opposes removing pole attachments from rule sections for cable operator complaints and including them instead as facilities governed by new application rules, shifting the burden of showing need for access to the attacher from the pole owner. Proposed rules remove all references to PSC responsibility under D.C. law to ensure pole-attachment rates, terms and conditions are just and reasonable, and they would stop cable operators from filing complaints challenging rates, terms or conditions for access, Comcast said. The plan would broaden PSC regulatory authority from cable operators to a larger number of entities seeking to attach equipment, commented the D.C. Office of People’s Counsel. The plan simplifies complaint procedure and “expressly encourages” private talks to resolve disputes, OPC said. The office raised concerns about leaving out the term “pole attachment” from the proposal’s definitions: That's "a term of art with a particularized meaning; as such, its denotation needs to be expressly set forth in order to forestall disagreements/confusion -- some of which, though wholly avoidable, may require Commission intercession.”