GoNetspeed hopes that a change in Massachusetts pole attachment rules will enable the company to complete its planned $250 million fiber build in the state more quickly. Telecompetitor spoke with Jamie Hoare, GoNetspeed Chief Legal Counsel, for more details.
As Hoare explained, Massachusetts is one of multiple states where communications network operators are not bound by FCC One-Touch-Make-Ready rules. Instead, the state sets its own pole attachment rules. The FCC rules, adopted in 2018, streamline the process for network operators to connect to other companies’ utility poles.
Some other New England states are also responsible for their pole attachment processes and certification, Hoare explained. But Massachusetts is unique among them in that it hasn’t adopted a One-Touch-Make-Ready approach.
“It really is an outlier, especially in the region,” he said of Massachusetts, noting that Connecticut and Maine both have adopted One-Touch-Make-Ready rules.
In those two states, he said, “We can dream up a network and be serving customers within six months — in Missouri, that process takes several years.”
Proposed Legislation
Hoare is hopeful that will change if Massachusetts adopts the bills proposed in the state.
The proposed One-Touch-Make-Ready rules are specified in bills H.3546 and S.2285 that were introduced in the Massachusetts legislature. The rules would enable communications network operators to use contractors approved by utility pole owners, provided that the changes involve only the “communications space” on the pole.
That’s the area of the pole reserved for communications equipment and isolated from the higher portion of the pole reserved for electrical equipment.
GoNetspeed has been advocating for the adoption of the legislation for some time, and Hoare is encouraged by the support that the bills have received from Governor Maura Healey’s administration.
“I’m hopeful we can get to a spot where there is some efficiency and predictability in the process,” he said.
The new rules also could save costs by minimizing truck rolls, he said.
GoNetspeed was created in 2021 when investment firm Oak Hill Capital consolidated six companies — Otelco, OTTC, Upstate Fiber Networks, Lentek, GoNetspeed, and Icon.
The company has been quite aggressive in deploying fiber, particularly in the Northeast.
