CPUC May Set 3-Month Time Frame to Start OTMR
California utilities would get three months to implement one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) under a revised proposed decision (PD) by the California Public Utilities Commission (docket R.17-06-028). CPUC members plan to vote Thursday on adopting OTMR for pole attachments (see 2210070061). Tuesday’s…
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revised PD would adopt the cable industry’s suggestion to give three months for implementation rather than electric utilities’ proposal to give one year. With so much state and federal broadband funding available, the CPUC “is more inclined to order that compliance with the new OTMR requirements occur sooner rather than later so that broadband services are made more readily available in California’s neediest regions,” it said. The CPUC would disagree with its Safety and Enforcement Division that there isn't data to support a proposed finding that OTMR will promote utility safety. “The FCC adopted its access timeframes in 2011 and OTMR rules in 2018 after an extended process with the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee that addressed safety,” said the revised PD. “The OTMR requirements adopted by the Commission are consistent with the FCC rules which have not been shown to have compromised safety.” No California pilot is necessary, it said. The CPUC won’t increase penalties for unauthorized pole attachments yet, the revised PD said. Pacific Gas and Electric sought to increase the $500 fee to $2,500; Southern California Edison wanted to increase it to $2,000. The CPUC isn't ready “to decide if the increased penalty amounts would provide the necessary deterrent effect, that the increased penalty amount would not place too onerous a burden on the attachers who would be penalized, or that there isn’t an alternative mechanism that would be more effective,” said the revised draft: The CPUC “will consider this issue later in this proceeding or in a subsequent proceeding to further develop the record.” Carriers must assess state USF surcharges through a new connections-based method starting April 1, said a Wednesday revised draft of another CPUC proposal up for vote Thursday (see 2210050038). The initial PD in docket R.21-03-002 proposed shifting methods Jan. 1, but industry raised concerns last month (see 2209230031). Among other edits, the CPUC deleted a line saying the commission “is limited in its ability to expand the billing base to include broadband.” It clarified that private branch exchanges and Centrex lines are “access lines” to be counted for contribution purposes. The CPUC would disagree with AT&T that the state public utility code’s Section 285 prevents it from applying the new contribution method to VoIP carriers.