CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is on the verge of a $1.2 billion federally funded broadband buildout but that expansion may be held up by a problem that’s been around for years.
The state Broadband Enhancement Council is considering officially intervening in a case before the state Public Service Commission involving First Energy and Frontier Communications about pole attachments.
State Broadband Office Director Kelly Workman told the council at last week’s meeting that pole agreements are “our biggest source of delay in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding projects so far,” Workman said.
She said it’s turning out to be a drain on resources for internet service providers (ISPs).
“Costs have gone up exponentially the last three years compared to previous experience,” Workman said. “We’re fighting through this issue, company by company. The policies do not appear consistent, the pricing does not compare consistent.”
Workman said she’s concerned because the level of broadband expansion projects currently underway is small compared to what is coming in the recently announced $1.2 billion for West Virginia from the federal government.
Pole attachment frustrations nothing new
The concern and disagreement associated with what can be attached to a power pole has been around since the 1990s.
Most of the time the power utility owns the pole and attached will be phone lines, television cable lines and others. ISPs have to get permission, at a cost, from the utility to attach. That permission comes at a cost with review and engineering fees.
The electric utility is in charge of the top of the poll. It reviews the request from an ISP and then asked the telecommunications company, like Frontier, to review that request before it’s approved, modified or rejected.
The state Public Service Commission signed off in June on a stipulated agreement involving FirstEnergy and Frontier Communications concerning pole attachments for ISPs. The two companies must file a joint pole use agreement with the PSC by Aug. 20. Once that is filed, the Broadband Enhancement Council may ask the PSC to allow it to intervene in the case.
Timing is critical
Broadband Council Chairman Robbie Morris said West Virginia’s political leaders, including both U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, Gov. Jim Justice and state lawmakers, have all made it clear they want those residents who don’t have broadband currently to get it as quickly as possible, especially with the new federal funds that are coming.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to do,” Morris said at last week’s meeting. “We’ve had some successes, but we are having more hiccups now based on this pole access issue. This issue in the northern half of West Virginia is a problem, in the FirstEnergy territory it’s a significant problem. We need the permits on the polls.”
Workman said the delays can add up.
She said a 60-mile broadband expansion project in rural West Virginia may need access to as many as 4,000 poles. She said the current rate at which the permits are being approved and paid is not keeping pace with where the projects need to be.
The Office of Broadband has so far allocated funds for four expansion projects using ARPA funds and the single biggest delay, according to Workman, is the pole attachment agreements.
“The pattern has been established and we’ll see if the pattern holds true. This is an issue that needs to be addressed,” Workman said.
Costs have gone up
Morris said in some cases ISPs are being asked to pay up to 300% more than just a few years ago to the pole owners to attach.
“The appearance is that with the rise in costs they are saying, ‘Okay, now federal money is out here and now let’s just jack-up our costs and we can take advantage of that money as well,'” Morris said. “These funds are meant to spread broadband across the state and for them to be going up 1, 2, 3, 400% is just astronomical.”
There’s also the issue of itemizing the cost of the attachment.
Workman said under the federal grant money that the broadband office will hand out to ISPs they must have an itemized document on how the poll attachment agreement was reached. That’s currently an inconsistent process, Workman said.
Frustration anticipated
Both Workman and Morris said they anticipate state residents will become increasingly frustrated with delays in the buildout. The residents have heard about the money from the federal government and now they want to know what’s taking so long to get their broadband.
“Residents are saying, ‘Where’s my internet?'” Morris said. “Right now, in a large number of cases it’s because of poll permitting issues.”
The state Broadband Office submitted its five-year plan for the new $1.2 billion in funding to the federal government on Friday with more specifics to come by the end of the year. It hopes to be awarding grants from that pot of money to ISPs this time next year. The state has until 2029 to spend the money.
“There are very strict timelines on the use of this money,” Morris said. “And if we only get a fraction of the projects completed, connected because the clock ran out because of pole permits that’s not going to go over very well with anybody. Although it’s just 2023, that clock will run out before we know it and that’s why we are trying to get this resolved as quickly as possible.”
The Broadband Enhancement Council will decide at its September meeting whether it will intervene in the FirstEnergy/Frontier case.