Court Upholds FCC's Pole Attachment Rule Changes
D.C. Federal Appeals Court Says Commission Sufficiently Justified Change
in Policy
By: John Eggerton
Multichannel News
Feb 26 2013 - 12:21pm
http://www.multichannel.com/news-article/court-upholds-fccs-pole-attachment-rule-changes/141918
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday upheld the FCC's
pole attachment rate order, finding utility company arguments against
the decision without merit.
It also found that the FCC, in changing decades old policy on pole
attachments, had justified the standard--set in the recent Fox indecency
case--for justifying its change in policy.
"As the Commission has met Fox’s modest demands for changing its policy,
upholding its decision follows ineluctably," said Judge Stephen williams
writing for the court.
“The court’s decision to affirm the FCC’s pole attachment order is a win
for American consumers," said National Cable & Telecommunications
Association President Michael Powell. "By reducing the cost of attaching
equipment and wires to utility poles, the changes adopted by the
Commission in 2011 will help promote the deployment of broadband and
telecommunications networks by cable operators and other providers.”
"We are pleased that the Court upheld the Commission’s order," said an
FCC spokesman, "which is one of a number of important actions the
Commission has taken to reduce barriers to broadband deployment and
accelerate billions of dollars of investment in 21st century
infrastructure."
The FCC in July 2011 had voted to reform its pole attachment rules as
another way to promote broadband deployment. That incluced lowering
rates utility pole owners can charge for telecom service (as much as $20
per foot per year) to about the same as the cable rate of about $7 per
foot per year. The FCC also voted to boost wireless access to poles and
setting a deadline for utility companies to allow attachments.
American Electric Power Service, one of utilities facing reduced
payments under the FCC reform, filed suit, arguing the FCC had erred in
lowering rates utility pole owners can charge for telecom service.
But cable operators had told the court in filings in support of the FCC
that the FCC was within its authority to lower the telecom rate, which
at closer to the cable rate still compensates utility companies, they
said, particularly on top of one-time payments pole users must also make
to connect to the poles. They also pointed out that basing payments on
service classifications is potentially dicey since "the formal
classification of many services in the Internet age can be
unpredictable, fiercely contested, and disconnected from the commercial
realities of today's marketplace."
--
=================================================
George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923
Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927
Political Science Mail: antunes at uh dot edu
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3011
_______________________________________________
Medianews mailing list
[email protected]
http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
