Verizon, FiOS, and CLEC/UNE orders (was AT&T diversity)

Thu Mar 22 01:23:44 UTC 2012

> Bingo.
> 
> On the flip side of the equation, if you want to be an overbuilder (a
> third communications infrastructure provider beyond the phone and cable
> companies) the owner of the telephone poles is usually required by the
> state to sell you an "attachment." An attachment is a connection to a
> pole at a specific height, reserved for connecting your cables. The
> power company is usually the owner, so they don't get too bent out of
> shape about the fact that you're competing with the ILEC. The last I
> checked, this ran about $5/year per pole.
> 
> See http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/mdrd/PoleAtt.html

When I worked for a CLEC the way that power pole attachments went, they
would sell you the bottom most attachment point on the pole and you were
required to move the other attachements further up the pole to make room for
your attachment point (at your own expense).

In our town the ILEC (GTE which morphed into Verizon) sold the power poles
to the local municipality. So if you wanted attachment rights you had to
negotiate with the local city manager. So be sure to check with them as
well.

My personal favorite was driving down the road one day watching them
literally snip our fiber off the pole with a pair of cutters (it was a dark
overlay we weren't using at the time, thankfully). Apparently the new city
manager deemed that our agreement for power pole attachment didn't apply to
him since it was negotiated under the previous city manager. He instructed
the line workers to cut it down. Lawyers were involved shortly thereafter
and the company went insolvent. Good times.