Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Verizon Pole Attachment Issues Delay West Springfield, MA Fiber Plan
By
on
New England residents have been complaining about Verizon’s lack of meaningful fiber upgrades for the better part of the last two decades, prompting a steady parade of interest in community owned and operated fiber networks in states like Massachusetts.
But some of these community broadband efforts, such as West Springfield’s plan to deliver affordable fiber access to every city resident, are still being hampered by Verizon.
In 2021 the city (est. pop. 28,000) announced it would be partnering with Westfield Gas and Electric, the publicly owned utility in Westfield, Massachusetts, which has built and operates fiber networks in nearly two dozen communities in the Berkshires. The end result: Westfield Gas and Electric's broadband subsidiary Whip City Fiber plans to deliver West Springfield residents symmetrical gigabit fiber for $75 a month, without long term contracts or onerous hidden fees.
But efforts to launch a $1.8 million pilot project have been on hold thanks to ongoing delays by Verizon and Eversource to prepare local utility poles for fiber attachment, West Springfield Chief Technology Officer Stephanie Straitiff tells local news outlet The Reminder.
Image
In 2021 West Springfield voted to establish a public utility department tasked with creating a town-owned fiber-optic cable network. They urged locals to sign up for a pilot program in four local neighborhoods, and submitted applications to Verizon and Eversource to ensure access to utility poles to begin “make ready” fiber attachment preparations.
While locals are excited (the town has seen 272 applications from residents for the pilot project and 643 applications for service townwide), the make-ready work remains stuck at somewhere around 25 percent with little explanation from Verizon as to what’s causing the delays.
“It’s a frustrating wait, for sure, but we’re doing everything we can do to push it along,” Straitiff said. “Once this stuff is done, things will really rapidly advance.”
Image
The city’s full network deployment is expected to cost somewhere between $25 and $30 million, though we have seen pole attachment and make-ready work delays add considerable costs to network construction.
Incumbent giants like AT&T and Verizon have long been accused of dragging their feet on pole attachment when it comes to the potentially disruptive impact of broadband competitors.
In some instances, AT&T has attempted to block pole attachment access outright to competitors like Google Fiber in cities such as Austin or Louisville.
Even larger Verizon competitors like Charter (Spectrum) have complained about Verizon’s “anticompetitive” behaviors when it comes to pole attachment work.
A "Connect The Future" report from 2021 found that pole attachment delays–intentional or otherwise–cost Americans between $491 million and $1.86 billion every month.
“Pole owners frequently deny or delay broadband providers pole attachment access, or impose economically unfeasible rates, terms, and conditions that impose excessive costs on broadband providers associated with pole replacement and upkeep,” the study found. “In economics this is known as the ‘hold up problem,’ an inefficient concentration of market power that harms the public interest.”
With an historic influx of broadband subsidies now making their way to municipalities countrywide, there has been a renewed but unheeded call to ensure that such tactics (blocking or delaying pole attachments, or charging unreasonable rates for attachment and make ready work) are included as part of broader efforts at antitrust reform.
Inline image of tree lined street in West Springfield courtesy of Flickr user Rusty Clark, CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic
Inline graphic of what is on a utility pole courtesy of Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative
Geoterm
Related Stories
Cabot, AR Deploys 10 Gbps Capable City-Owned Fiber Network
Construction on a new city-owned fiber network in Cabot, Arkansas will soon bring affordable broadband access to every city resident and business in the state’s “Strawberry Capital.” The network comes courtesy of a partnership with Connect2First, the broadband subsidiary of local power company First Electric Cooperative Corporation, which continues to build on its significant presence across Arkansas.
Ruston, Louisiana Gives Up, Will Sell City-Owned Fiber Network
Ruston, Louisiana officials say they’re throwing in the towel, and will be selling a city-owned fiber network that has existed for the better part of 15 years. City officials say they finalized the decision at a city council meeting earlier this month, though they’d already sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for potential bidders as early as February.
Anti Muni Broadband Budget Amendment Gets Nixed in New York
Advocates for better Internet access are breathing a sigh of relief in New York as the State Assembly nixed a budget bill amendment that would have undermined the state’s municipal broadband grant program.
Joplin, Missouri Strikes Partnership With ALLO Fiber To Beef Up Local Broadband Competition
Joplin, Missouri has announced a new broadband public-private partnership (PPP) with ALLO Fiber that should help boost competition and lower rates across the city of 52,000. The partnership poses a particular challenge to regional cable giant CableOne, which currently enjoys a monopoly over broadband access across a whopping 83 percent of the city.
New Resource Alert: Rising Tide of Municipal Broadband Networks Fact Sheet
As the municipal broadband movement continues to gain momentum, here is a new fact sheet that highlights the dramatic surge in the building of publicly-owned, locally controlled high-speed Internet infrastructure. We also unveil a new map of municipal broadband networks across U.S.
RantanenTown Ranch Turns Into Broadband Playground For Tribal Broadband Bootcamp 11
Photo-filled look at the many days of prep and three days of immersive programming that went into creating Tribal Broadband Bootcamp 11 at RantanenTown Ranch.