American Electric Power Slams NCTA Pole Attachment Proposal

American Electric Power representatives met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff to question the timelines that NCTA proposed in an April letter on pole attachments (see 2505080028). NCTA’s plan would “lead to more disputes at the Commission -- not to quicker broadband roll-out,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-84.

NCTA proposes that the FCC establish a period of 30 days for approval of contractors and an additional 14 days to complete the “contractor onboarding process,” AEP said. But “rushing the approval and onboarding processes for new contractors who will perform engineering and power supply space make-ready could result in electric outages, injuries, and even deaths."