ExteNet Lawyer Says Houston Dispute Affects All Backhaul Providers
It’s impossible to narrow the scope of a Texas right-of-way dispute between Houston and ExteNet Systems to distributed antenna systems (DAS), an ExteNet attorney said in testimony Tuesday in Texas Public Utility Commission case 45280. The matter concerns a complaint…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
by ExteNet, a DAS provider, against Houston for imposing public right-of-way fees. Responding to Comcast concerns about possible consequences of the case for the wider industry, PUC staff suggested limiting the scope of the case to whether Chapter 283, a local code for franchise fees, applied to DAS (see 1608310023). But the ExteNet attorney, Joseph Gillan, said the PUC won’t be able to narrow its decision, "The dispute hinges on whether the Commission will interpret the term 'backhaul' in the manner Houston asks -- a decision that would exclude from the Chapter 283 framework all backhaul, not just DAS," he said. "It is the threshold eligibility of backhaul under Chapter 283 that Houston is challenging, not whether DAS providers (a term and concept not even defined in the proceeding) should be treated differently than other backhaul providers." If the commission wants to revisit the rule, it should hold a separate rulemaking, Gillan said. “But for the purpose of this Complaint, the Commission must apply its rule as written and commonly defined, and not redefine ‘backhaul’ so as to expel from Chapter 283 the backhaul facilities of every provider in Texas.” In separate testimony, a Houston official said ExteNet must have a right-of-way use agreement with the city before installing fiber where it’s proposed. Houston hosts the Super Bowl in four months, understands small-cell technology will be important to creating a positive experience there, "and has been active in facilitating its deployment in the City," said Juan Olguin, an assistant director in the Houston Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department. The city has a master license agreement “that sets out the rights and responsibilities of wireless service providers, their contractors, and wireless infrastructure companies that want to install facilities in the rights-of-way," he said. "As a result of our successful collaboration, small cell/DAS providers are able to install and profit from their facilities in the rights-of-way, the City protects the rights-of-way for the public's use, and the community has the opportunity to provide input about small cell/DAS facilities in their neighborhoods all ultimately benefitting from its deployment.”