New York PSC Grants Wireless Industry Petition for Streamlined Pole Access
New York will apply existing pole attachment requirements to wireless providers while the Public Service Commission considers other ways to streamline wireline and wireless deployment in the state, commissioners unanimously decided Thursday. Commissioners voted 4-0 at their livestreamed meeting to partly grant a nearly 3-year-old CTIA petition in docket 16-M-0330 for relief so wireless providers may quickly deploy small cells and distributed antenna systems needed for 5G services (see 1608020029).
"We take the best of what the FCC has done but we adjust the rates and terms and conditions to meet the specific needs of New York,” said Commissioner Gregg Sayre, noting he’s glad New York is one of 20 states that asserted state jurisdiction over pole attachments. Commissioner Diane Burman sees no tension between the state and FCC policy on the issue, she said. New York PSC Chairman John Rhodes said the order “represents a set of very effective and needed steps.”
The decision will “help our members meet the wireless needs of New Yorkers,” and CTIA looks forward to further streamlining New York pole attachment rules, said Senior Vice President-State Affairs Jamie Hastings.
The PSC set an interim pole attachment rate for wireless that's equal to the per-foot rental rate paid by wireline attachers. Wireless companies will pay, as wireline providers do, for an additional 6 inches to actual space used, rounded up to the nearest foot, said the order. The method produces an average rate of $117.68 when using 7 feet of occupied space, which “falls in the middle of the scale” of other states that capped annual rates, and “falls well below the FCC’s presumptive maximum rate of $270 for a wireless attachment,” said Telecom Utility Supervisor Michael Rowley.
The order sets a 215-day shot clock for wireless attachments, longer than the FCC allows. After getting an application, pole owners have 90 days for preconstruction survey and engineering, then 14 days to estimate make-ready costs. The attacher has 21 days from the estimate to pay, then 90 days to complete make-ready work. The state's interim timeline “will provide certainty for wireless attachers going forward, but also acknowledges the differences in wireless and wireline attachments” and “recognizes the current environment in New York,” where pole attachment applications are expected to surge due to broadband expansion efforts and 5G deployment, Rowley said.
The order extends the commission’s existing dispute resolution processes to wireless attachment applications. And it continues the proceeding, directing staff and stakeholders to set permanent rates, consider one-touch, make-ready and other possible enhancements to state pole attachment policy, and weigh tweaks to attachment terms for large-scale projects.
The commission disagreed with ConEdison and other electric utilities that said new policy isn’t needed. “The circumstances have indeed changed in the past fifteen to twenty years and any suggestion to the contrary is misplaced,” the order said. “Wireless technology is expanding at a rapid pace and access to utility poles will facilitate deployment of important technologies like 5G wireless networks.” Relying on individually negotiated contracts could delay 5G, it said. The utilities didn't comment.
Also at the meeting, members voted 3-1 to confirm the latest extension granted by Rhodes in New York’s dispute with Charter Communications in case 15-M-0388. He gave Charter until April 5 to seek rehearing of July's order revoking the MVPD’s Time Warner Cable buy, and until May 3 to file a six-month plan to exit the state. Charter and New York say they’re close to settlement (see 1903060041). Burman, who has raised process issues, said she “will be voting for the seventh time, but eighth extension, no."
In another pole attachment decision, the Maine Public Utilities Commission agreed Wednesday to staff’s recommended finding (see 1901280043) that replacement of utility poles is make-ready under Section 7(A) of Chapter 880 of its rules. So it's subject to that section’s exemption for “non-commercial, non-competitive use consistent with the police power of [a] municipality.” The commission plans to include the issue in its next Chapter 880 rulemaking proceeding, opening soon, said the 3-0 order in docket 2018-00136.