Pole Replacement Explainer
Key Points
- 1) Broadband has become a critical component to the lives of almost all Americans, and policymakers should continue exploring methods of improving adoption and access.
- 2) While most efforts to increase access to broadband focus on direct monetary subsidies, reducing barriers to deployment can help maximize subsidy dollars and incentivize private deployment of critical infrastructure.
- 3) Pole replacement costs present an outweighed barrier to deployment, and action at the federal level has yet to provide the necessary relief.
- 4) States should act quickly to better apportion the costs of replacing the pole between the owner of the pole and broadband providers, as well as extending a cost-sharing regime to all poles.