HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 1147 Broadband
SPONSOR(S): Tomkow
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 1218
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Energy, Communications & Cybersecurity 13 Y, 0 N Phelps Keating
Subcommittee
2) Ways & Means Committee 21 Y, 0 N Rexford Aldridge
3) Commerce Committee 18 Y, 0 N Phelps Hamon
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Broadband Internet service has become an essential component of daily life, yet some parts of Florida lack
access to this service. Communities that lack broadband access can have difficulty attracting new capital
investment. To help address this issue, the Legislature, among other things, implemented a promotional rate
for the attachment of broadband facilities to poles owned by municipal electric utilities. The promotional rate
requires municipal electrical utilities to offer broadband internet service providers a discounted rate of $1 per
attachment per year for any new pole attachment necessary to make broadband service available to an
unserved or underserved consumer within the utility’s territory. The promotional rate expires on July 1, 2024.
The bill extends the expiration date of the promotional rate from July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2028.
The bill does not appear to impact state government revenues or expenditures. The bill may have a negative
impact on local government revenues as a result of the discounted pole attachment charges, though the
impact will be dependent on utilization of the program by broadband providers. The discounted pole
attachment charges may provide an incentive to broadband internet service providers for additional investment
in broadband infrastructure to reach unserved areas and unserved customers in this state.
The bill provides an effective date of June 30, 2024.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
STORAGE NAME: h1147e.COM
DATE: 2/8/2024
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Current Situation
Regulation of Pole Attachments
The term “pole attachment” refers to the process by which communications services providers can
place communications infrastructure on existing electric utility poles. This reduces the number of poles
that must be built to accommodate utility and communications services, while 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. 1 The space requested for a pole
attachment is typically one foot.
Pole attachments, originally by mutual agreement but later by federal statute and regulation, provide
non-pole-owning cable and telecommunications service providers with access to a utility’s distribution
poles, conduits, and right-of-way (ROW) for:
Installing fiber, coaxial cable or wires, and other equipment;
Building an interconnected network; and
Reaching customers.2
Congress began regulating pole attachments 3 in 1978.4 The Telecommunications Act of 19965 (the Act)
expanded pole attachment rights to telecommunications 6 carriers. The Act requires utilities 7 to provide
nondiscriminatory access to cable television systems and telecommunications carriers. The Act also
authorizes the Federal Communications Commission8 (FCC) to regulate the rates, terms, and
conditions of attachments by cable television operators to the poles, conduit, or ROW owned or
controlled by utilities in the absence of parallel state regulation. 9 The Legislation withheld from FCC
jurisdiction the authority to regulate attachments where the utility is a railroad, cooperatively organized,
or owned by a government entity.10 Thus, federal pole attachment regulations apply only to investor-
owned electric utilities (IOUs). Municipal and cooperative electric utilities are specifically exempted from
federal pole attachment regulations.
The Act permits utilities to deny access where there is insufficient capacity and for reasons of safety,
reliability or generally applicable engineering purposes. In addition to establishing a right of access, the
1 American Public Power Association, Issue Brief: Preserving the Municipal Exemption from Federal Pole Attachment Regulations
(June 2023) https://www.publicpower.org/policy/preserving-municipal-exemption-federal-pole-attachment-regulations (last visited Feb.
5, 2024).
2 Evari GIS Consulting, Joint Use Pole Audit, availab le at https://www.evarigisconsulting.com/joint-use-pole-audit (last visited Feb. 5,
2024).
3
47 U.S.C. § 224(a)(4), defines ‘‘pole attachment’’ as “any attachment by a cable television system or provider of telecommuni cations
service to a pole, duct, conduit, or right-of-way owned or controlled by a utility.”
4 The Pole Attachment Act of 1978 granted utility pole access to cable companies, and was designed to promote utility competition and
service to the public. Communications Act Amendments of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95 -234. (Feb. 21, 1978).
5 Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. LA. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996).
6
The term “telecommunications” means the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the us er’s
choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received. 47 U.S.C. § 15 3(50).
7 “Utility’’ is defined as “any person who is a local exchange carrier or an electric, gas, water, steam, or other public utili ty, and who
owns or controls poles, ducts, conduits, or rights -of-way used, in whole or in part, for any wire communications. Such term does not
include any railroad, any person who is cooperatively organized, or any person owned by the Federal Government or any State.” 47
U.S.C. § 224(a)(1).
8 The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, televisi on, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the FCC is the United States'
primary authority for communications law, regulation and technological innovation. FCC, What We Do, https://www.fcc.gov/about-
fcc/what-we-do (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
9 47 U.S.C. § 224.
10 In the Matter of Implementation of Section 224 of the Act- A Nat'l Broadb and Plan for Our Future, 26 F.C.C. Rcd. 5240, 5245–46
(2011).
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Act provides a rate methodology for “attachments used by telecommunications carriers to provide
telecommunications services”11 in addition to the existing methodology for attachments “used by a
cable television system solely to provide cable service.”12
Federal law broadly preempts the regulation of telecommunications services. 13 However, federal law
allows states to exercise reverse preemption over the FCC’s jurisdiction of communications
infrastructure access,14 meaning that once a state adopts its own utility pole access rules, the FCC
loses jurisdiction over pole attachments to the extent that the state regulates such matters. 15
In 2021, Florida exercised its power under the Act to assert reverse preemption over the FCC’s
regulation of pole attachments, directing the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to regulate and
enforce rates, charges, terms, and conditions for pole attachments, and to ensure that they are just and
reasonable. In 2023, with the passage and enactment of HB 1221 (Broadband Internet Service
Providers), this authority was expanded to the regulation of attachments to poles owned by rural
electrical cooperatives engaged in the provision of broadband services. 16 Presently, s. 366.04(8), F.S.,
regulates pole attachments for public utilities and such rural electric cooperatives.17 The PSC does not,
however, regulate pole attachments for poles owned by municipal utilities.
Attachment of Broadband Facilities to Municipal Electric Utility Poles
The Legislature passed CS/CS/HB 1239 (Broadband Internet Infrastructure) in 2021, creating s.
288.9963, F.S., and providing terms for the attachment of certain broadband facilities to poles owned
by municipal electric utilities.
Under this law, a broadband provider18 is currently entitled to receive a promotional rate of $1 per
wireline attachment19 per pole per year for any new attachment necessary to make broadband service 20
available to an unserved21 or underserved22 end user within a municipal electric utility service territory. 23
A broadband provider who wishes to make wireline attachments subject to this promotional rate must 24:
Submit an application, including a route map, to the municipal electric utility specifying which
wireline attachments on which utility poles are necessary to extend broadband service to
unserved and underserved end users;
Include with this application the information necessary to identify which unserved or
underserved end users within the municipal electric utility’s service territory will gain access to
broadband service; and
Provide a copy of both of the above to the Florida Office of Broadband.
11 47 U.S.C. § 224(e).
12 47 U.S.C. § 224(d).
13 “No State or local statute or regulation, or other State or local legal requirement, may prohibit or have the effect of prohi biting the
ability of any entity to provide any interstate or intrastate telecommunications service.” 47 U.S.C. § 253(a).
14
47 U.S.C. § 224(c)(1).
15 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, 486–87 (2020).
16 Chapter 2023-199, Laws of Fla.
17 Section 364.391, F.S., provides that if a rural electric cooperative engages in the provision of broadband, all poles owned b y 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 und er that
subsection. Sections 366.04(9) and 366.97, F.S., also provide pole attachment regulations relating to poles owned by public utilities.
18 “Broadband provider” means a person or entity who provides fixed broadband Internet service. S. 288.9963(2)(a), F.S.
19 “Wireline attachment” means a wire or cable and associated equipment affixed to a utility pole in the communications space of the
pole. S. 288.9963(2)(f), F.S.
20 “Broadband service” means a service that provides high-speed access to the Internet at a rate of at least 25 megabits per second in
the downstream direction and at least 3 megabits per second in the upstream direction . S. 288.9963(2)(b), F.S.
21 “Unserved” means that there is no retail access to the Internet at speeds of at least 10 megabits per seconds for downloading and 1
megabits per second for uploading. S. 288.9963(2)(e), F.S.
22 “Underserved” means there is no retail access to the Internet at speeds of at least 25 megabits per seconds for downloading and 3
megabits per second for uploading. S. 288.9963(2)(d), F.S.
23 S. 288.9963(3), F.S.
24 S. 288.9963(3)(a), F.S.
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A broadband provider making a wireline attachment application under the promotional rate must make
a reasonable effort to make broadband service available to the unserved or underserved customers
identified in the application. A provider who fails to do so within 12 months may be required to pay the
prevailing rate for those attachments that failed to make broadband service available to the intended
customers to the municipal electric utility.
The promotional rate expires on July 1, 2024.25
Effect of the Bill
The bill extends the expiration date of the $1 wireline attachment promotional rate from July 1, 2024, to
December 31, 2028. The bill also extends the $1 wireline attachment promotional rate for any currently
existing wireline attachments made under the promotional rate program from July 1, 2024, to
December 31, 2028.
The bill provides an effect date of June 30, 2024.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1. Amends s. 288.9963(3)(e), F.S., relating to promotional rates.
Section 2. Provides an effective date of June 30, 2024.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
The bill may have a negative impact on local government revenues as a result of the discounted
pole attachment charges. Any impact is dependent on utilization of the program by broadband
providers.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
Broadband internet providers will benefit from discounted rates for certain attachments made to
municipal electric utility poles over the next four years. These savings may provide incentives for
additional investment in broadband infrastructure to reach unserved areas and unserved customers in
this state. This may result in increased economic activity in areas that currently lack access to
broadband Internet service.
25 S. 288.9963(3)(e), F.S.
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D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
If the provision of the bill that provides a promotional rate for the attachment of certain new
broadband facilities to municipal electric utility poles is considered to reduce the authority of
municipalities to raise revenues in the aggregate, the mandates provision of Art. VII, section 18, of
the Florida Constitution may apply. However, an exemption may apply if the promotional rate creates
an insignificant fiscal impact.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
The bill does not require or authorize rulemaking.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
Not applicable.
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DATE: 2/8/2024
Statutes affected: H 1147 Filed: 288.9963
H 1147 er: 288.9963