UPDATE AT&T has gone to federal court over an FCC decision last November that said the carrier’s not entitled to as low an attachment rate from Duke Energy Progress poles than other telecommunications attachers. The Commissioners made the original decision in 2021. Both AT&T and Duke appealed for different reasons. Last November, the agency decided that AT&T paid too much to Duke to access the utility poles in North and South Carolina under a Joint User Agreement (JUA) between the two companies.
The FCC ordered Duke to charge a lower rate in compliance with the Commission’s 2011 and 2018 pole attachment orders. The exact figure was not made public and redacted from the document, Inside Towers reported.
But the agency did decide that the JUA gave AT&T an advantage not given to other attachers. That’s why the telecom received a price break, but not as much as other attachers would receive.
AT&T appealed to federal court, filing a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last month. The carrier said it should pay the rate the FCC considers comparable to cable companies and other third-party attachers that are disadvantaged in the agreement process, according to Broadband Breakfast.
“The Order requires AT&T to pay a substantially higher rate for use of Duke’s poles than the just, reasonable, and fully compensatory new telecom rate AT&T’s competitors pay for use of comparable space on the same utility poles,” said the carrier in its complaint. AT&T asked for the FCC order to be dismissed, calling parts of the order “arbitrary” and “capricious.”
The Commission has an open proceeding on pole attachments. It’s reviewing whether utilities should share in the cost of replacing the poles, Inside Towers reported. The utility often replaces poles because telecom attachers need more space. Utilities have told the agency they often install replacement poles for free, while telecoms say they often are billed for the cost of the new pole, plus the attachment work. The Commission wants to issue rules to clarify the payment question — to settle disputes and speed broadband deployment.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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