Comcast installed Wi-Fi gear without approval—and Corvallis (OR) is not happy

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Comcast recently installed Wi-Fi equipment in public rights of way without permits in the city of Corvallis (OR). But instead of settling the matter locally, NCTA—The Internet & Television Association, the cable industry's chief lobby group, told the Federal Communications Commission that it should override municipal permitting processes such as the one in Corvallis. In doing so, the cable lobby group made "misleading and inaccurate" allegations about what actually happened in the Comcast/Corvallis dispute, according to city officials. NCTA told the FCC in June that it "should declare that local governments may not abuse routine permitting processes for construction activity as a backdoor way of extracting unwarranted authorizations and fees from cable operators and otherwise delaying the deployment of new facilities."

NCTA's filing provided several examples allegedly demonstrating that cities and towns are unreasonably holding up network construction. These examples prove that "cable operators are facing unwarranted impediments in their efforts to deploy state-of-the-art broadband networks as a result of abusive permitting requirements," the NCTA claimed. Corvallis City Manager Mark Shepard told the FCC,  "There are two issues regarding Comcast's installation of Wi-Fi equipment in the City's ROW [rights of way]. Initially, Comcast installed Wi-Fi units in the City's ROW without application for construction permits. These installations would require a construction permit per Comcast's franchise agreement. When the City inquired about the units, the installation and their function, Comcast stated that in addition to allowing wireless access to video services, the units also provided non-cable service to non-cable customers, even though Comcast's franchise does not authorize use of the ROW to provide non-cable services to the general public. The City encouraged Comcast to apply for a telecom franchise to remedy the situation, just as the City would require a franchised telecommunications provider to obtain a cable franchise prior to using the ROW to provide cable services."


Comcast installed Wi-Fi gear without approval—and Corvallis (OR) is not happy