The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Rules
BILL: SB 1218
INTRODUCER: Senator Burgess
SUBJECT: Broadband
DATE: February 7, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Schrader Imhof RI Favorable
2. Renner McKay CM Favorable
3. Schrader Twogood RC Favorable
I. Summary:
SB 1218 amends s. 288.9963, F.S., regarding a promotional pole attachment rate required to be
offered by municipal utilities to broadband providers to provide broadband service to unserved
or underserved areas. The bill extends the date through which municipal electric utilities are
required to offer to broadband providers a promotional $1 per pole, per year, wireline attachment
rate for any new pole attachments necessary to make broadband service available to an unserved
or underserved end user within a municipal electric utility service territory. The date is extended
from July 1, 2024 to December 31, 2028.
The Revenue Estimating Conference has not reviewed SB 1218. Staff estimates an indeterminate
impact to municipal utility revenue.
The bill takes effect upon becoming a law.
II. Present Situation:
Florida Public Service Commission
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) is an arm of the legislative branch of
government.1 The role of the PSC is to ensure Florida’s consumers receive utility services,
including electric, natural gas, telephone, water, and wastewater, in a safe, affordable, and
reliable manner.2 In order to do so, the PSC exercises authority over public utilities3 in one or
1
Section 350.001, F.S.
2
See Florida Public Service Commission, Florida Public Service Commission Homepage, http://www.psc.state.fl.us (last
visited Jan. 22, 2024).
3
Under s. 366.02(8), F.S., a “public utility” is defined “as every person, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal
entity and their lessees, trustees, or receivers supplying electricity or gas (natural, manufactured, or similar gaseous
substance) to or for the public within this state.” There are, however, several exceptions to this definition, which include, “a
BILL: SB 1218 Page 2
more of the following areas: rate base or economic regulation; competitive market oversight; and
monitoring of safety, reliability, and service issues.4 PSC authority over municipal utilities is
more limited, however.
Electric Utilities
The PSC monitors the safety and reliability of the electric power grid5 and may order the
addition or repair of infrastructure as necessary.6 The PSC has broad jurisdiction over the rates
and service of investor-owned electric.7 However, the PSC does not fully regulate municipal
electric utilities (utilities owned or operated on behalf of a municipality) or rural electric
cooperatives. The PSC has jurisdiction over these types of utilities with regard to rate structure,
territorial boundaries, bulk power supply operations, and planning.8 Municipally-owned or
operated utility rates and revenues are regulated by their respective local governments or local
utility boards. Rates and revenues for a cooperative utility are regulated by the governing body
elected by the cooperative’s membership.
Municipal Electric and Gas Utilities, and Special Gas Districts, in Florida
A municipal electric or gas utility is an electric or gas utility owned and operated by a unit of
local government. Chapter 366, F.S., provides the majority of electric and gas utility regulations
for Florida. While ch. 366, F.S., does not provide a definition, per se, for a “municipal utility,”
variations of this terminology and the concept of these types of utilities appears throughout the
chapter. Currently, Florida has 33 municipal electric utilities that serve over 14 percent of the
state’s electric utility customers.9 Florida also has 27 municipally-owned gas utilities and four
special gas districts.10
Regulation of Pole Attachments
Utility poles were first deployed in the U.S. in 1844 to extend telegraph service. While they have
been in use for over 175 years, utility poles continue to provide the scaffolding for the
technology of the twenty-first century. In the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many
states adopted laws granting rights-of-way (ROW) to construct utility poles, wires, and facilities
to transmit electricity and communications signals. First telegraph, then telephone, electricity,
cooperative now or hereafter organized and existing under the Rural Electric Cooperative Law of the state; a municipality or
any agency thereof; [and] any dependent or independent special natural gas district.” Generally, “public utility” means
investor-owned utilities.
4
Florida Public Service Commission, About the PSC, https://www.psc.state.fl.us/about (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
5
Section 366.04(5) and (6), F.S.
6
Section 366.05(1) and (8), F.S.
7
Section 366.05, F.S.
8
Florida Public Service Commission, About the PSC, supra note 4.
9
Florida Municipal Electric Association, About Us, https://www.flpublicpower.com/about-us (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
10
Florida Public Service Commission, 2023 Facts and Figures of the Florida Utility Industry, pg. 13, Apr. 2023 (available
at: https://www.floridapsc.com/pscfiles/website-
files/PDF/Publications/Reports/General/FactsAndFigures/April%202023.pdf) (last visited Jan. 22, 2024). A “special gas
district” is a dependent or independent special district, setup pursuant to ch. 189, F.S., to provide natural gas service. Section
189.012(6), F.S., defines a “special district” as “a unit of local government created for a special purpose, as opposed to a
general purpose, which has jurisdiction to operate within a limited geographic boundary and is created by general law, special
act, local ordinance, or by rule of the Governor and Cabinet.”
BILL: SB 1218 Page 3
cable, wireless, and Internet service providers have sought to attach facilities to wooden, and
later steel or composite, utility poles.11
The term “pole attachment” refers to the process by which communications companies colocate
communications infrastructure on existing electric utility poles. Colocation reduces the number
of poles that must be built to accommodate utility services, thereby reducing costs to users of
both services by allowing providers to share costs. Rules governing pole attachments seek to
balance the desire to maximize value for users of both electric and communications services with
concerns unique to electric utility poles, such as safety and reliability.12 The space requested for a
pole attachment is typically one foot.13
Pole attachments were originally established by mutual agreement. Later, such agreements were
regulated by federal statute and administrative regulations. Pole attachments provide non-pole-
owning cable and telecommunication service providers (such as cable television providers and
local exchange carriers) with access to a pole-owning utility’s distribution poles, conduits, and
right-of-way for:
 Installing fiber, coaxial cable or wires, and other equipment;
 Building an interconnected network; and
 Reaching customers.14
In 1978, Congress passed the “Pole Attachment Act,” which added s. 224 to the
Communications Act of 1934, to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to
establish rates, terms, and conditions for pole attachments for the cable television industry.15
The “Telecommunications Act of 1996,” which amended 47 U.S.C. s. 244 to add provisions
making access to utility poles mandatory for telecommunications services providers and
providing for nondiscriminatory access—unless there is insufficient capacity and for reasons of
safety, reliability, and generally applicable engineering purposes.16 Municipal owned electric
utilities and rural electric cooperatives are exempt from the provisions of 47 U.S.C. s. 224.17
Specifically, the term “utility” is defined as:
[A]ny person who is a local exchange carrier or an electric, gas, water, steam,
or other public utility, and who owns or controls poles, ducts, conduits, or
rights-of-way used, in whole or in part, for any wire communications. Such
11
Catherine J.K. Sandoval, Contested Places, Utility Pole Spaces: A Competition and Safety Framework for Analyzing Utility
Pole Association Rules, Roles, and Risks, 69 Cath. U. L. Rev. 473, 474–75 (2020), available at
https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3552&context=lawreview (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
12
American Public Power Association, Issue Brief: Preserving the Municipal Exemption from Federal Pole Attachment
Regulations (Jan. 2021), available at https://www.publicpower.org/policy/preserving-municipal-exemption-federal-pole-
attachment-regulations (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
13
Evari GIS Consulting, Joint Use Pole Audit, available at https://www.evarigisconsulting.com/joint-use-pole-audit (last
visited Jan. 22, 2024).
14
Id.
15
Pub. L. No. 95-234, codified at 47 U.S.C. s. 224.
16
Pub. L. No. 104-104, codified at 47 U.S.C. s. 224(f).
17
47 U.S.C. s. 224(a)(1).
BILL: SB 1218 Page 4
term does not include any railroad, any person who is cooperatively
organized, or any person owned by the Federal Government or any State.18
A state, however, can assume regulation of pole attachment through a process known as “reverse
preemption.” This requires a state to expressly assert jurisdiction through state legislation,
followed by certifying to the FCC that “in so regulating such rates, terms, and conditions, the
state has the authority to consider and does consider the interests of the subscribers of the
services offered via such attachments, as well as the interests of the consumers of the utility
services.”19 As of June 13, 2022, 23 states and the District of Columbia have reverse preemption,
including Florida.20
Florida assumed regulation of pole attachments for poles owned by a public utility from the FCC
after the passage and enactment of SB 1944 in 2021, placing the authority to regulate pole
attachments under the PSC.21 In 2023, with the passage and enactment of HB 1221, this authority
was expanded to the regulation of attachment to poles owned by rural electric cooperatives
engaged in the provision of broadband services.22 Presently, s. 366.04(8), F.S., regulates pole
attachments for public utilities and such rural electric cooperatives.23 The PSC does not,
however, regulate pole attachments for poles owned by municipal utilities.
Broadband Availability in Rural Areas
Much like with rural electricity distribution, the primary challenge in deploying broadband in
rural areas is one of population density. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that
the average cost of laying fiber is $27,000 per mile.24 Many rural areas are remote and have
geographically dispersed populations, thus more fiber per customer must be laid to serve them.
Moreover, rural areas often have harsher terrain than urban areas—such as mountain ranges or
ground that is frozen for substantial portions of the year. These features can make it more
difficult and costly to serve such areas with fiber.25 Cable networks can also face similar density
and terrain issues.
While rural customers still lag behind urban counterparts, the difference in broadband access
between these areas is at its lowest ever. In 2015, reflecting advances in technology, the FCC
raised benchmark speeds to be considered broadband service to 25 megabits per second (Mbps)
18
Id.
19
47 U.S.C. s. 224(c)(2).
20
Federal Communications Commission, Public Notice: States That Have Certified That They Regulate Pole Attachments,
June 13, 2022, available at https://www.fcc.gov/document/states-have-certified-they-regulate-pole-attachments-3 (last visited
Jan. 22, 2024).
21
Chapter 2021-191, Laws of Fla.
22
Chapter 2023-199, Laws of Fla.
23
Section 364.391, F.S., provides that if a rural electric cooperative engages in the provision of broadband, all poles owned
by that cooperative are subject to regulation under s. 366.04(8), F.S., on the same basis as if such cooperative were a public
utility under that subsection. Sections 366.04(9) and 366.97, F.S., also provide pole attachment regulations relating to poles
owned by public utilities.
24
Congressional Research Service, Raising the Minimum Fixed Broadband Speed Benchmark:
Background and Selected Issues, July 12, 2021, available at https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11875/2 (last
visited Jan. 22, 2024).
25
Id.
BILL: SB 1218 Page 5
for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads (25/3 Mbps service).26 Under this benchmark, the FCC
reported that 53 percent of people living in U.S. rural areas lacked access to broadband—as
compared to just 8 percent of persons living in U.S. urban areas lacking such access. By 2021,
the gap for 25/3 Mbps service with at least one provider had essentially vanished.27 Rural areas
still were behind their urban counterparts in choice however; 91 percent of rural customers had
access to three or more providers, versus 99 percent of urban customers.28
In 2021, the FCC considered increasing their standard for broadband to 100 Mbps of download
and 10 Mbps of upload speed (100/10 Mbps service), but ultimately rejected the change given
concerns about whether enough providers could meet such a standard.29
Florida Office of Broadband
Section 288.9961, F.S., establishes the Florida Office of Broadband within the Division of
Community Development within the Florida Department of Commerce (DCM).30 The Office of
Broadband “works with local and state government agencies, community organizations and
private businesses to increase the availability and effectiveness of broadband internet throughout
the state, specifically in small and rural communities.”31
State and Federal Broadband Growth Programs
Connect America Fund
One of the earliest and most significant federal broadband programs is the Connect America
Fund, which is part of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF). Started in 2011, the purpose of
the fund is to provide subsidies to telecommunications companies to expand telecommunications
infrastructure in rural and remote areas of the United States.32 The Connect America Fund is a
“high-cost” program, meaning that it is designed to ensure that consumers in rural, insular, and
high cost areas have access to modern telecommunications networks and that services through
those networks, like voice and broadband, are available at a cost comparable to that in more
developed urban areas.33 The Connect America Fund is the largest of the USF’s programs, and
has an annual budget of $4.5 billion.34
26
Federal Communications Commission, Wireline: 2015 Broadband Progress Report, Feb. 14, 2015, available at
https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/broadband-progress-reports/2015-broadband-progress-report (last visited Jan
22, 2024).
27
USA Facts, How Many Americans have Broadband Internet Access, Oct. 5, 2023, available at
https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-americans-have-broadband-internet-access/#footnote-3 (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
28
Id.
29
Id.
30
Section 288.9963, F.S., actually states that the Florida Office of Broadband is created within the Division of Community
Development, however, HB 5 from 2023 (enacted as Chapter 2023-173, L.O.F.), changed the name of the Department of
Economic Opportunity to the Department of Commerce.
31
Florida Department of Commerce, Office of Broadband, https://www.floridajobs.org/community-planning-and-
development/broadband/office-of-broadband (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
32
Federal Communications Commission, Universal Service Monitoring Report, Feb. 13, 2023, available at
https://www.fcc.gov/general/federal-state-joint-board-monitoring-reports (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
33
Federal Communications Commission, Universal Service for High Cost Areas-Connect America Fund, available at
https://www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service-high-cost-areas-connect-america-fund#releases (last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
34
Universal Service Administrative Co., Program Overview, available at https://www.usac.org/high-cost/program-overview/
(last visited Jan. 22, 2024).
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Broadband Technology Opportunities Program
The Broadband T