Inside The Beltway…

Judges Back FCC On Pole-Attachment Order
About a month after hearing oral arguments, a three-judge panel at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the FCC’s 2011 pole-attachment order that had been challenged by utilities. NCTA supported the FCC in the case, with Michael Powell commenting, “By reducing the cost of attaching equipment and wires to utility poles, the changes adopted by the Commission in 2011 will help promote the deployment of broadband and telecommunications networks by cable operators and other providers.” Added USTelecom President/CEO Walter B. McCormick Jr., “Assuring that incumbent LECs have access to the federal statutory protections of just and reasonable pole attachment rates was a key objective of Chairman Genachowski’s Broadband Acceleration Initiative, and today’s action by the D.C. Court of Appeals provides the certainty and predictability that is so important to investment.”