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The electric cooperatives in Georgia (Georgia EMCs) Tuesday received an outstanding pole attachment ruling from the Georgia Public Service Commission, protecting Georgia EMCs and their more than  four million member-owners, but also providing hope for more fair pole attachment regulation elsewhere in the country.

With the first and only ruling of its kind in the

Photo of Thomas B. Magee

The FCC last week released a DRAFT order, scheduled for a vote at its September 26 meeting, designed to dictate the process and fees that state and local governments must apply to small cell wireless antenna installations on government-owned poles and similar facilities, and on newly-constructed poles the wireless carriers want to install in state

Photo of Thomas B. Magee

On Friday, August 3, the FCC released its order adopting a One-Touch Make-Ready (OTMR) policy for attaching telecom and cable facilities to utility poles in the 30 states that don’t regulate pole attachments themselves. The FCC stated that it believes its action should help enable deployment of small cells and wireline backhaul for 5G services.