UPDATE Cox Communications is being sued by Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) and by CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) over a planned broadband deployment which will cross a railroad track, according to Cardinal News. In two separate lawsuits, filed in the U.S. Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond division, the railroad companies say that deployments, which are allowed by a state law that shortens timelines and reduces fees, are in violation of existing federal and state laws, according to the publication.
CSX’s complaint claims that Cox intends “to ignore … safety and permitting processes and instead proceed with an unauthorized installation.”
The lawsuit is similar to one filed by the Association of American Railroads last year on behalf of Norfolk Southern and CSX. That suit also attacked the 2023 Virginia state law that “reduced the approval process time and costs to ISPs, particularly the state’s electric cooperatives, that were trying to reach rural customers across railway tracks,” according to Cardinal News. That case was dismissed by a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, who said the association did not have standing.
Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Association of Broadband Cooperatives officials said they support the state railroad broadband law because they have previously encountered fees of up to $20,000 per railroad crossing and review periods of 18 months or more, according to Route 50.
The law, sponsored by state Sen. Bill Stanley (R–Franklin), limits the timeframe to 35 days and the fees to $2,000 for broadband companies to cross wires over or under railroad tracks, according to Virginia Public Media (VPM). “The railroad companies were holding up any approval of crossing … and demanding exorbitant fees for what was a 15-minute, 20-minute procedure,” Stanley told VPM News.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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