In December 2020, Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to allow telecoms to attach equipment to existing utility poles for a $1 annual fee, reported the Rome News-Tribune. Now, providers complain that the financial incentive to expand service into rural areas isn’t working.
The “One-Buck Deal,” suggested by the state’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs), unanimously approved by the PSC and opposed by the Georgia Cable Association (GCA), was recently reviewed. The incentive was initially proposed to run for six years with a review every two years. The recent feedback by the GCA indicated that the program is not effective.
“As of this filing date, GCA members are unaware of a single-pole permit that has been issued under the One-Buck Deal,” wrote Hunter Hopkins, the cable association’s executive director.
Shawn Davis, a lobbyist for GCA, said that another provision of the One-Buck Deal included a 36 percent increase on pole attachments in other parts of the state, which he blames for the lack of interest in the rural initiative. According to Davis, “Any savings we get from the handful of one-dollar poles is offset by the 36 percent increase.”
To date, 20 EMCs have deployed broadband, investing $770 million to extend service into 89 Georgia counties. However, this number represents less than half of the state’s total EMCs. This delta leaves large swaths of the state still unserved, reported the News-Tribune.
Another barrier to entry, according to Dennis Chastain, president and CEO of Georgia EMC, is the expense of running broadband into sparsely populated areas. “Somebody’s got to step up to the plate and supply these people…If broadband isn’t eventually brought to these [rural] areas, they’re going to dry up and die,” he said.
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