As the FCC weighs new pole attachment rates, it should be ‘mindfu...
As the FCC weighs new pole attachment rates, it should be “mindful of the disproportionate impact that pole attachment costs have on rural rates” and rural broadband deployment, USTelecom said in a proposal filed Monday at the FCC. Costs…
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are higher for broadband providers in rural areas, thanks to the need for more poles and fewer attachers among which to spread the cost. USTelecom said “any proposal or formula that results in higher attachment rates in less densely populated areas will have the effect of suppressing broadband deployment to rural consumers.” Under USTelecom’s plan, the FCC would establish a broadband pole attachment rate “based on an appropriate percentage of pole costs -- rather than requiring pole-by-pole studies by both pole owners and attachers.” Each broadband attacher would pay 11 percent of the pole’s costs to the owner, “regardless of the actual number of attachers on a particular pole or the actual amount of space each attacher uses on that pole,” the group said.