Conn. Commissioners Order Single-Visit Transfer Pilot for Pole Attachments
A Connecticut telecom regulator admonished an industry working group on pole attachments before voting with colleagues to adopt an order meant to reduce the state’s backlog of double poles (docket 21-07-29). At a virtual meeting Wednesday, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) voted 3-0 for the plan to require a single-visit transfer (SVT) pilot program and tighten timelines for dealing with double poles (see 2212070065). PURA Chairman Marissa Paslick Gillett wished the order went further but said she has “cautious optimism that this will move the ball forward.”
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But Gillett has been “disappointed in some of the efforts that got us here,” she said. Gillett said she asked pole attachers and other stakeholders at a June 24 technical meeting if there would be “a good-faith resolution to the default option that was on the table,” since industry had repeatedly pressed the commission to refer the matter to a working group. Industry responded that they would work it out, but “when that work product was filed this fall, you did not have it,” she said. “In fact, what was filed with us was directly in contravention to what had been required and discussed by the authority on numerous occasions.”
On future pole-related matters, Gillett said “any requests to refer something to the working group will be met with great, great concern and pushback from myself, as on numerous occasions … we’ve been assured that something could be addressed through the working group, and it was not.” Telecom groups that participated in the proceeding, including Frontier Communications and the New England Connectivity and Telecommunications Association, didn’t comment.
“Hopefully, 2023 will be a rebirth, a new direction, in terms of this docket,” said Vice Chairman Jack Betkoski. “It’s been painful to say the least.” The double poles issue is on Betkoski’s top-five list of complaints he hears from people, he said. Saying the work is complex, Commissioner Michael Caron praised “everyone’s efforts and ability to compromise and find common ground.”
Wednesday's order aims to address a “safety hazard” that occurs when two poles are installed closely together, which happens when a new or replacement pole is installed without removing the older pole, said Stephen Capozzi, PURA Reliability, Security and Resilience Unit supervisor. Usually, the older pole isn’t removed right away because attachments from the old pole must be transferred sequentially before the original pole can be removed, he said. In 2004, PURA directed pole owners to remove double poles within 12 to 18 months. “Despite this order and for nearly all of the past 20 years, there has existed a substantial backlog of double poles that have exceeded those deadlines,” the PURA staffer said.
The order requires a process allowing one contractor to transfer attachments in a single go. It will be a pilot at first because pole owners and attachers asked to work out unknowns “through an initial limited geographic implementation before a full-scale implementation,” Capozzi said. PURA didn’t attach a time limit to the pilot “but rather expects that the program continues without a set end date and expands in scope … as the stakeholders learn and solve some of the unknowns,” he said.
Also, the order directs pole riders to transfer their attachments within 45 days of receiving notification they're next in line to be shifted. It directs custodians to remove bare poles within 45 days after the last attachment is removed. Companies that fail to meet timelines risk civil penalties. Previously, PURA held only pole owners responsible for removing double poles, said Capozzi: Going forward, attachers will share that obligation.