FCC Adopts New Pole Attachment Rules to Speed Broadband Deployment

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Round-Up for the Week of July 21-25, 2025

This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved updates to its pole attachment rules aimed at accelerating broadband deployment.

I’m about to lose you as I write the next two words—pole attachments—but, if you’ll kindly unglaze your eyes, this is a crucial issue in efforts to ensure broadband networks reach everyone in the U.S.

When an internet service provider (ISP) is building a new broadband network or improving an existing one, it can bury cables in the ground or, if that is infeasible or too expensive, run those cables on existing utility poles. Therefore, utility poles and how ISPs gain access to them are central to broadband deployment.

The pole attachment process involves utility pole owners, usually telephone or electric companies or local governments, granting broadband providers (i.e., “attachers”) permission to attach wires to poles along the path of a planned broadband construction project. This process has several steps, and the regulations governing it vary by state and the type of pole owner. 

Before attaching a line, a process known as “make-ready” must be completed. This process involves entities with lines on the poles—typically cable TV providers, electric utilities, and telephone companies—relocating their equipment to make space for new attachments. In some instances, especially when poles are in poor condition, the make-ready process can also require costly and time-intensive replacement of the pole.

In most instances, make-ready costs—primarily for labor to rearrange existing attachments, pole replacements, and ancillary work, such as tree trimming—are the responsibility of the new attacher. However, in states where FCC regulations govern pole attachments, owners must pay for the replacement of red-tagged poles (that is, poles marked for replacement). 

The FCC’s pole attachment rules prescribe processes and timelines that attachers and pole owners must follow. Increased funding for broadband projects has led to extensive new deployments in recent years, resulting in a significant increase in attachment applications for large numbers of utility poles.

These new rules serve as an update to the FCC's 2023 regulations, which aimed to expedite the approval process for new attachments. In this latest update, the FCC seeks to further accelerate wireline broadband deployment through four improvements to the pole attachment process.

Existing Timelines

Currently, a utility has up to ten business days after receiving a new attachment application to determine whether it is complete. Once a pole attachment application is complete, the utility has 45 days to make a decision on the application and complete any surveys to determine whether and where attachment is feasible and what make-ready is required.

Then, the utility must provide an estimate of all make-ready charges within 14 days of its response granting access, or, where the new attacher has performed the survey, within 14 days of receiving such survey. The new attacher has 14 days or until withdrawal of the estimate by the utility, whichever is longer, to accept the estimate and make payment.

Once the utility receives payment of the estimate, it must notify existing attachers on the pole of the new attachment. The existing attachers then must move their equipment to make room for the new attachment within 30 days of receiving notice from the utility for attachments in the communications space––the section of the utility pole where telecommunications equipment is placed––or 90 days for attachments above the communications space.

These deadlines apply to all pole attachment requests up to the lesser of 300 poles or 0.5 percent of the utility’s poles in a state (Regular Orders). For larger projects, timelines vary based on the size of the request. These deadlines can be amended only during the make-ready phase if there is good and sufficient cause that renders it infeasible for a utility to complete make-ready within the required timeline.

The FCC treats projects differently depending on the number of poles involved. The FCC characterizes:

• Regular Orders as those up to the lesser of 300 poles or 0.5 percent of the utility’s poles in a state
• Mid-Sized Order as those exceeding the lesser of 300 poles or 0.5 percent of a utility's poles in a state up to the lesser of 3,000 poles or 5 percent of a utility’s poles in the state
• Large Orders as those exceeding the lesser of 3,000 poles or 5 percent of a utility’s poles in a state up to the lesser of 6,000 poles or 10 percent of a utility’s poles in a state
• Very Large Orders as those exceeding the lesser of 6,000 poles or 10 percent of a utility’s poles in a state

In December 2023, the FCC took additional steps to accelerate broadband deployment by streamlining the pole attachment process, making it faster, more transparent, and more cost-effective. Specifically, the FCC adopted rules to:

1. Establish the Rapid Broadband Assessment Team (RBAT) to provide coordinated review and assessment of qualifying pole attachment disputes and recommend effective dispute resolution procedures, and

2. Require utilities to provide to potential attachers, upon request, the information contained in their most recent cyclical pole inspection reports, or any intervening, periodic reports created before the next cyclical inspection, for the poles covered by a submitted attachment application, including whether any of the affected poles have been “red tagged” by the utility for replacement, and the scheduled replacement date or timeframe.

Additionally, the FCC clarified that a red-tagged pole is one that the utility has identified as needing replacement for any reason other than the pole’s lack of capacity¹. The FCC also clarified the obligation to share easement information and the applicable timelines for the processing of attachment requests for 3,000 or more poles.

The rise in government funding for broadband deployment has contributed to a significant increase in the deployment of extensive new broadband facilities, resulting in a substantial increase in the number of applications seeking to attach these facilities to large numbers of utility poles. Both attachers and utilities acknowledge that these increases, along with the rise of privately funded projects, have put greater demand on utility resources and the pool of qualified contractors. This increase in demand has resulted in difficulties and delays in accessing poles.

The New Rules

The rules adopted this week continue the FCC’s ongoing efforts to facilitate the pole attachment process further.

1. Ensure greater collaboration between utilities and attachers

Attachers and utilities cite the need for better coordination in the pole attachment process. The FCC adopted a requirement that attachers provide written advance notice to utilities of Mid-Sized and Large Orders.

The FCC now requires the written advance notice to be sent as soon as practicable, but not less than 60 days in advance of submitting a Mid-Sized or Large Order. The advanced notice will detail information allowing the utility to properly assess the potential resource needs for the order. The advanced notice must contain:

1. The attacher’s contact information;
2. A description of the proposed deployment area(s) and route(s); and
3. A proposed build-out schedule; and
4. A request to meet with the utility within 30 days of the date of the notice.

Regular Orders will not be subject to this requirement, as such orders do not require as many resources as larger orders. The FCC also does not impose this new requirement on Very Large Orders; instead, the Commission now requires the parties to engage in good faith negotiations to set attachment timelines.

The FCC also requires attachers and utilities to meet and confer within 30 days after written advance notice is given to negotiate in good faith the mechanics and timing by which Mid-Sized and Large Orders will be processed. Any allegations of bad faith by either party in fulfilling this requirement can be referred to the FCC's Rapid Broadband Assessment Team for resolution. The FCC believes that such a pre-planning requirement will “enable utilities and attaching entities to prepare for larger orders––or better yet––avoid the need to submit larger orders altogether and instead submit applications in stages."

2. Establish a timeline for large pole attachment requests

The FCC is not changing the existing timelines for processing pole attachment applications for Regular Orders and Mid-Sized Orders. However, the FCC agreed with attachers that fixed timelines are necessary for some level of pole attachment applications above 3,000 poles (Large Orders).  Previously, the FCC required attachers and utilities to negotiate in good faith to set the timelines for Large Orders. With these new rules, the FCC  establishes defined timelines for processing Large Order applications.

The updated timeline for Large Orders is:

• Application Completeness Review: ten business days after receipt
• One Touch Make Ready (OTMR) review: ten business days for completeness, 45 days on the merits after application is complete
• Survey/Review on Merits: 90 days after application is complete
• Estimate: 29 days after survey
• Communications Space Make-Ready: 120 days after attacher payment
• Above Communications Space Make-Ready (Power space): 180 days after attacher payment

For Very Large Orders, the FCC leaves in place the requirement that utilities and attachers negotiate in good faith the pole attachment timelines for such orders. However, the lesser of the first 6,000 poles or 10 percent of the utility’s poles in the state of an application are subject to the new make-ready timelines adopted for Large Orders, so long as the attacher designates in its application the first 6,000 poles (or 10 percent of the utility’s poles in the state) to be processed, which the utility must permit the attacher to do.

For reference, here are all the updated timelines for pole attachment requests of different sizes:

3. Improve pole attachment timelines

The FCC requires utilities to notify attachers within 15 days of receipt of a complete application if a utility cannot meet the survey timelines. The FCC further requires utilities to notify attachers as soon as practicable, but no later than 15 days after completion of the survey, if a utility cannot meet the make-ready timelines. Where a utility notifies the attacher that it is unable to meet the survey or make-ready timelines, the attacher may then elect self-help for the work upon receipt of the utility’s notice rather than having to wait until the relevant timeline period runs out.

If a utility does not give advance notice that it will be unable to meet the survey or make-ready deadlines, the attacher must wait until the end of the survey or the FCC’s make-ready timelines before availing itself of any self-help remedies.

To respond to the concerns articulated by some utility commenters, the FCC adopted certain safeguards for a self-help remedy:

1. The attacher must wait until the utility’s 14-day (or 29 days in the case of Large Orders) estimate deadline has expired before exercising a self-help remedy.

2. The attacher must provide notice that it is exercising its self-help remedy for an estimate.

3. The self-help estimate is to be performed by an approved contractor.

4. This remedy is not available for estimates of make-ready work in the electric space or for pole replacements.

5. Utilities have the right to review and approve the estimates at the attacher’s expense; however, such expenses must be reasonable and based solely on the actual costs incurred by the utility in reviewing the estimate.

4. Accelerate contractor approval

The FCC established a firm deadline by which utilities must respond to requests by attachers to add additional qualified contractors to their existing lists. Specifically, the FCC required utilities to respond to such requests within 30 days of receipt by the utility.

This response must state whether the proposed contractor has been approved in accordance with the FCC’s rules and will be added to the utility’s approved list of contractors following the completion of the utility’s onboarding process. If a utility fails to respond to an attacher’s request to add a proposed contractor to its approved list within 30 days of receipt, the attacher’s request will be deemed approved.

For surveys and make-ready work that is complex or above the communications space, a utility must make available and keep up-to-date a reasonably sufficient list of contractors that it has authorized to perform such work on its poles. A new attacher engaging in self-help for complex or above the communications space make-ready must use a contractor from this list to perform the work.

Attachers may, however, request that additional contractors meeting the minimum requirements of the FCC’s rules be added to the utility-approved list, and utilities may not unreasonably withhold their consent. To be reasonable, a decision to withhold consent “must be prompt, set forth in writing that describes the basis for rejection, nondiscriminatory, and based on fair application of commercially reasonable requirements for contractors relating to issues of safety or reliability."

For surveys and make-ready work that is simple, utilities may—but are not required to—provide a reasonably sufficient list of contractors they authorize to perform such work. If a utility provides such a list, attachers must use a contractor from that list.

If an attacher does not submit information sufficient to demonstrate that a contractor has made the required representations, utilities may respond to the attacher within 30 days with a denial, provided that it is “set forth in [a] writing that describes the basis for rejection, nondiscriminatory, and based on fair application of commercially reasonable requirements for contractors relating to issues of safety or reliability.” Parties are also free to negotiate for a longer review period for contractor approvals if needed.

Additionally, the FCC now authorizes utilities to disqualify a contractor that was previously deemed approved based on reasonable safety or reliability concerns related to a contractor’s failure to meet the minimum qualifications or to meet the utility’s publicly available and commercially reasonable safety or reliability standards. A utility must provide a written notice, including the bases for disqualification, to the attacher in these cases.

Promoting Public Investment in Broadband

The historic public investments in broadband infrastructure provide us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure high-speed internet access reaches everywhere in the U.S. The success of these investments depends, in great part, on the ability of broadband deployers to be able to quickly gain access to existing infrastructure. For too long, a lack of standard rules and timelines for processing large broadband deployment orders has slowed rollouts and led to costly disputes. By encouraging communications companies and pole owners to collaborate on larger broadband deployments and by providing more concrete timelines, the FCC’s action may remove barriers to deployment.

Notes

1. The FCC provided additional examples of when a pole replacement is not “necessitated solely” as a result of a third party’s attachment or modification request because the pole already requires replacement at the time of the new request.

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Jul 30––The Inside Scoop: Bridging the Divide to Move Higher Education Forward (New America)

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