Chestertown, Maryland — January 29, 2026 — Talkie Communications, Inc. (Talkie) announces that it filed a petition with the FCC seeking preemption of actions by Queen Anne’s County, Maryland (the County), and the Maryland Department of Information Technology (MD DoIT) that unlawfully obliterate the deployment of advanced and critical broadband networks using fixed wireless technology in Maryland.
The petition requests that the FCC enforce Section 253 of the Communications Act, which limits state and local requirements that prohibit or effectively prohibit the provision of telecommunications services. Talkie states that the County and MD DoIT are improperly attempting to impose inappropriate rights-of-way and resource-sharing requirements on (a) certain “commingled” services (e.g., a combination of various telecommunications, broadband, voice and cable services) and (b) Talkie’s fixed-wireless network.
The dispute centers on Talkie’s installation of a utility pole along a Maryland state highway. In March 2025, Talkie received a permit from the Maryland State Highway Administration (MD SHA) authorizing the installation. Because Talkie is a certificated telecommunications provider in Maryland and has the ability to offer telephone service using the pole, the installation fell squarely within MD SHA’s exclusive authority. Accordingly, no County permit was required.
Despite this, Queen Anne’s County and MD DoIT attempted to interfere with the installation by asserting their regulatory authority over Talkie’s facilities when services such as broadband and wireless are offered alongside telephone services. While both entities acknowledge that telephone services are not subject to their regulation, they contend that certain services provided in combination over the same facilities are subject to their requirements and fees.
Talkie’s petition explains that these attempts violate FCC rules, including Section 253, which protects the deployment of services and prohibits state and local governments from imposing discriminatory or prohibitive requirements. Critically, the FCC’s position is that state and local governments may not “parse” or separate combined services in a way that imposes additional regulation on some services, but not others, within that combination. Because of these actions, Talkie’s deployment has been halted for months due to extensive delays, excessive costs, and onerous approval processes.
Andrew DeMattia, Co-CEO of Talkie Communications states that “The State and County imposition of costly requirements are abruptly stopping Talkie’s continued deployment of its next-generation network that could provide amazing new services and capabilities without expensive direct last-mile fiber connections.”
Mr. DeMattia emphasizes that “We are asking the FCC to reaffirm what the law already makes clear: MD DoIT and the County cannot impose burdensome requirements by dissecting the regulatory treatment of each and every type of technology that Talkie attaches to its utility pole and services offered whether commingled or not. Cutting-edge network deployments should not be delayed or denied through such abusive state and local government shakedowns. These and other inappropriate State and County strong-arm tactics have resulted in millions of dollars in estimated costs and damages to Talkie that must be stopped.”
Talkie therefore asks the FCC to preempt the County and MD DoIT from imposing their oppressive requirements.
