Unanimous FCC Approves Copper Retirement and Pole Attachment Items
Both big infrastructure items teed up for votes on Thursday were approved 3-0, without dissent from Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez. The items were laid out in advance of their circulation (see 2507020036) in a speech by Chairman Brendan Carr on his "Build America Agenda.” More infrastructure items are on their way at the Aug. 6 meeting, Carr noted during a news conference.
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Former FCC officials said while these are early days for the new 2-1 Republican majority, the items show that Carr, like most of his predecessors, may be willing to work with commissioners from the other party, where possible, to achieve unanimous votes.
Gomez voted in favor of the copper retirement NPRM, saying she had asked for and received edits. Tweaks were expected (see 2507220065). “This proceeding aims to free up billions of dollars for new networks, instead of forcing providers to keep investing in old ones,” said a news release.
Gomez discussed the continuing importance of legacy phone services in places she has visited, like Fleming-Neon, Kentucky, and Wyatt Ranches, Texas. The NPRM “asks whether we still need these rules to protect consumers or whether they get in the way of service providers investing in technology upgrades,” she said.
“I support the move to new technologies and want to make sure the people of Fleming-Neon, Wyatt Ranches and everywhere else get the benefits of technological progress,” Gomez said. It’s “imperative that we strike the right balance between over-burdensome regulation and rules that protect consumers,” she added. “Reducing burdens on providers should not create barriers for consumers.” The NPRM “could have asked more questions about the quality and affordability of replacement services to ensure that consumers are not left without service while they wait for upgrades.”
For Commissioner Olivia Trusty, the FCC must consider ways of encouraging investment in “future-ready infrastructure rather than propping up outdated copper networks.” The transition to IP-based networks has taken years, but these networks offer “high-speed connectivity, stronger call authentication protections and are better suited for emerging technologies” like AI.
Carr said, “The numbers tell the story of how significant today’s proposed plan could be.” Just one communications provider spends nearly $6 billion yearly “to keep its old copper line services running,” he said. “This is despite the fact that only 5% of its customers still subscribe to copper phone service.” AT&T has said keeping its copper lines running costs it $6 billion annually (see 2502260021).
The pole attachment item saw some changes around the contractor-approval process, Wireline Bureau officials said. Changes were expected (see 2507230047).
Wireline Bureau lawyer Emily Caditz said attachers and utilities agree utility resources and the pool of qualified contractors has been “stretched thin” by the boom in applications seeking to attach broadband facilities to utility poles. The order requires attachers to provide advance written notice to utilities about mid-sized and large pole attachment orders and sets a meet-and-confer requirement for those large orders, she said.
Caditz said the order also sets a fixed timeline for large pole attachment requests and requires 15-day notification from utilities if they know they can’t meet survey and make-ready deadlines. It also limits utility-imposed restrictions on application size and requires utilities to respond to a request to add contractors to the utility-approved list within 30 days, she said.
A related Further NPRM seeks comment on whether light poles fall under Communications Act language for pole attachments.
The regulatory regime hasn’t made it easy to build high-speed infrastructure, given the lack of standard rules and timelines for processing requests, Carr said. “We want to unleash massive new builds across the country,” and getting large builds cleared is a cornerstone of that.
Gomez called utility poles “the unsung heroes of broadband deployment,” but “bumps in the road” in the attachment process can result in slower deployment of communications infrastructure. “We cannot afford to have that happen,” Gomez said, adding that the pole attachment item’s particulars of clarifying timelines and establishing improved communications between pole owners and attachers were “common sense.” She said the Wireless Bureau “found good compromises on several points of controversy.”
Trusty said that while the FCC “has done good work to date” on pole access issues, the item “shows that there is still more work that can be done.”