Industry News – 7/31/20

Utilities cannot impose a “blanket ban” on attachments to utility poles.  So says the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau in a declaratory ruling released Wednesday in response to a petition filed by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Associations.  The WCB ruling concludes that a ban is inconsistent with requirements that any denial of access be specific to a particular request and notes that parties may negotiate terms different than those on the FCC’s books, but attachers cannot be forced to give up their rights under the weight of a pole owners significant negotiating leverage.