Distributed antenna systems that use utility infrastructure to enable wireless
voice and data communications may impact your company. How can you accommodate
this new technology? How do you stay focused on your main mission to serve
the power or fixed line telephone service needs of your customers? The Q&A
below will help you understand the changing landscape, and if you still have
questions afterwards, please send
us an email.
There are several other web pages with more information in this topic
that you may find useful, including:
FCC
Bulletin on Utility Pole Attachment
Regulatory Affairs Information
NextG Networks is a member of NCJPA,
SCJPC, and NJUNS
Frequently Asked Questions from Utilities
Q. Who is NextG Networks?
Q. What kind of service does NextG provide?
Q. Is NextG a wireless provider?
Q. Is NextG certified by the states to provide
telecommunications services?
Q. What facilities does NextG need to install?
Q. Do we have to allow NextG to attach both its
fiber optic lines and the associated wireless antennas and equipment?
Q. How long do we have to respond to NextG’s application?
Q. Do we have to provide NextG with access
to our street light poles?
Q. Can we modify NextG’s placement of wireless equipment,
for example regarding RF emissions?
Q. Can we deny NextG access on the basis of safety,
reliability or operational concerns?
Q. Can we deny NextG access because we have reserved
space on the pole?
Q. Do we have to give NextG access to our easements
as well?
Q. Can we charge NextG an additional fee for access
to easements?
Q. Are we free to charge NextG any fee we want?
Q. Does the FCC have jurisdiction over pole and conduit
issues in all states?
Q. What if my state has certified but does not
have regulations addressing access by telecommunications providers, like
NextG?
Q. Who is NextG Networks?
A. NextG Networks is a next-generation communications company that provides
managed RF transport and backhaul services to wireless communications carriers,
including mobile network carriers and public wLAN carriers.
NextG’s innovative, cost-effective, and patented RF-over-Fiber transport
technology enables wireless carriers to expand their coverage and/or
capacity throughout metropolitan regions and in dense urban and isolated
suburban areas. NextG Networks is headquartered in Milpitas, California,
and operates regional wholly-owned subsidiaries throughout the United States.
Back to top
Q. What kind of service does NextG provide?
A. NextG provides telecommunications services. Specifically, it carries
voice and data traffic handed off to it by wireless providers (such as cellular
and PCS). It carries that traffic via its fiber optic lines from antennas
located on utility and/or street light poles to a central switching-like
location, and from there, either back to another antenna or out to the public
switched telephone network or Internet.
Back to top
Q. Is NextG a wireless provider?
A. No. NextG is not licensed to provide wireless services and does not control
any wireless spectrum. NextG is a “carrier’s carrier” whose customers generally
are wireless providers.
Back to top
Q. Is NextG certified by the states to provide telecommunications services?
A. Generally, yes. The certification requirements and procedures differ
among states. Since it provides telecommunications services on a common
carrier basis, NextG has obtained certificates of public convenience and
necessity from the states in which it will offer telecommunications services.
Back to top
Q. What facilities does NextG need to install?
A. NextG provides its service with a combination of fiber optic lines connected
to small wireless antennas, optical repeaters, and associated equipment.
Thus, it must generally install a certain amount of fiber optic cable. In
addition, it must install small wireless antennas and associated equipment,
such as small equipment boxes.
Back to top
Q. Do we have to allow NextG to attach both its fiber optic lines and
the associated wireless antennas and equipment?
A. Yes. The federal Pole Attachment Act, 47 U.S.C. § 224(f), requires utilities
to provide telecommunications carriers with nondiscriminatory access to
any pole, duct, conduit, or right-of-way owned or controlled by it. In National
Cable and Telecommunications Ass’n v. Gulf Power, 534 U.S. 327, 122 S.Ct.
782 (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the Pole Attachment Act
applies to attachments of wireless equipment by telecommunications carriers
like NextG.
Back to top
Q. How long do we have to respond to NextG’s application?
A. Under the FCC’s rules, a utility must act on NextG’s request within 45
days. If access is denied, the utility must confirm the denial in writing.
The denial must be specific, containing all relevant evidence and information
supporting the denial and shall explain how such evidence relates to a denial
of access for reasons of lack of capacity, safety, reliability or engineering
standards. 47 C.F.R. § 1.1403(b).
Back to top
Q. Do we have to provide NextG with access to our street light poles?
A. Yes. The Pole Attachment Act requires access to all poles other than
interstate transmission facilities. To the extent that a utility owns street
light poles, these are treated the same as any other pole.
Back to top
Q. Can we modify NextG’s placement of wireless equipment, for example
regarding RF emissions?
A. No. The FCC has exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of RF (Radio
Frequency) emissions. It has adopted detailed regulations containing extensive
measures for safe RF emissions. The wireless equipment that will be incorporated
into NextG’s system is and must be fully compliant with the FCC’s regulations.
Indeed, the wireless equipment associated with NextG’s system is of such
low power that it is “categorically excluded” from the FCC’s requirement
for routine environmental compliance testing for RF exposure.
Back to top
Q. Can we deny NextG access on the basis of safety, reliability or operational
concerns?
A. No. First, NextG’s installations comply with applicable safety codes,
such as the National Electrical Safety Code. Second, utilities have an obligation
to take steps to improve the facility in order to permit safe attachment.
Back to top
Q. Can we deny NextG access because we have reserved space on the pole?
A. Electric utilities may only reserve space on a pole for purposes of determining
capacity pursuant to a bona fide development plan that reasonably and specifically
projects a need for that space in the provision of core electric service.
Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions in the Telecommunications
At of 1996; Interconnection between Local Exchange Carriers and Commercial
Mobile Radio Service Providers, 11 FCC Rcd 15499, ¶ 1165-1170 (rel. Aug.
8, 1996), aff’d, Southern Co. v. FCC, 293 F.3d 1338, 1347-49 (11th Cir.
2003). In addition, electric utilities must still allow third parties to
attach in reserved space until such time as it is actually needed by the
utility for its core services. Telephone companies may not ever deny access
based on a lack of capacity.
Back to top
Q. Do we have to give NextG access to our easements as well?
A. Yes. Under the Pole Attachment Act, utilities must provide telecommunications
providers access to their poles, conduits, and rights-of-way. 47 U.S.C.
§ 224(f).
Back to top
Q. Can we charge NextG an additional fee for access to easements?
A. No. A utility’s right-of-way costs, if any, are already included in the
pole and conduit rental formulas under the FCC’s regulations. Accordingly,
an additional fee would constitute double recovery. In addition, since utilities
are required to provide NextG access to their easements under Section 224(f),
it would be unlawful for a utility to deny access to its easements and require
NextG to obtain a separate easement as a condition of access.
Back to top
Q. Are we free to charge NextG any fee we want?
A. No. The rates a utility can charge NextG for its attachments, both its
fiber and the wireless antennas, are governed by the FCC’s pole and conduit
rental formulas. 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.1404, 1.1409. In order to support its attachment
fee, a utility is required to provide NextG with its historical cost data.
See, e.g., Omnipoint Corp. v. PECO Energy Co., 18 FCC Rcd. 5484, ¶ 7 (Enf.
Bur. 2003).
Back to top
Q. Does the FCC have jurisdiction over pole and conduit issues in all
states?
A. The Pole Attachment Act grants the FCC exclusive jurisdiction over pole
and conduit access. However, it also allows individual states to take jurisdiction.
To do so, a state must certify to the FCC that it regulates "pole attachments"
and also must have made effective those regulations. 47 U.S.C. § 224(c).
There are currently thirteen states that have made such a certification
to the FCC.
Back to top
Q. What if my state has certified but does not have regulations addressing
access by telecommunications providers like NextG?
A. The rates, terms and conditions of NextG’s access to poles, conduits,
and rights-of-way are always protected by the Pole Attachment Act. If a
particular state that has otherwise certified to the FCC that it regulates
pole attachments ultimately concludes that its regulations do not cover
access by telecommunications carriers, the result would be that such attachments
would not be free from regulatory oversight because all telecommunications
providers, including their wireless facilities, have a federal right of
access that cannot be denied or extinguished.
Back to top