Reforming pole access rules could mean $1.7 billion for Montana

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 1 in 3 Montanans still lack access to reliable, high-speed broadband, and along with it the wide range of educational, commerce, health, and social opportunities critical to success in the 21st century. Montana’s number of unconnected residents –already three times the national average – is even more dire when we focus on the state’s rural communities, where an astounding 3 in 5 residents still lack connectivity. While Montana’s policymakers and industry leaders have made progress to close the state’s digital divide and rural broadband gap, more must be done to ensure that every dollar invested in broadband expansion is maximized to bring full connectivity to every corner of Big Sky Country.

Montana, like all other states in our country, is experiencing a windfall of public funds devoted to expanding broadband infrastructure. The recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – which received support and an “aye” vote from Senator Jon Tester –  includes $65 billion invested in broadband, which will support deployment in unserved areas, help low-income families purchase broadband services, and increase digital literacy throughout the country. This complements the $266 million in ‘ConnectMT’ funds announced by Governor Greg Gianforte in February 2022 to expand connectivity throughout the state. 

  Money alone, however, will not bridge the digital divide. It is paramount that every dollar invested in broadband expansion – public or private – is spent wisely and actually goes toward achieving full connectivity across the state. Unfortunately, counterproductive, inefficient, and outdated utility pole regulations in particular continue to stand in the way of broadband expansion.

Moreover, the potential economic benefits of full connectivity across the state are enormous. A new study I coauthored with Patricia D. Kravtin found that Montana could achieve up to $1.72 billion dollars in economic gains if all currently unserved Montanans are connected. But this can only become reality if utility pole regulations are reformed.

That’s because critical broadband infrastructure must be attached to these poles – most often owned by utility companies, municipalities, or cooperatives – before service can reach homes and small businesses. This gives utility pole owners significant, concentrated power to impose unnecessary delays and economically infeasible costs into the process used to attach broadband lines to poles. These delays and costs disproportionately impact the state’s rural communities, where it can take up to 10 poles to connect a single household or small business rather than one pole to connect 10 households or small businesses in most densely populated areas.

Utility poles will almost certainly determine whether the state’s ambitious broadband expansion efforts are successful, and Montana’s public officials have the timely opportunity now to address this major hurdle to broadband infrastructure buildout by reforming pole attachment policies and ensuring that broadband access reaches all of Montana. Equitable cost sharing mechanisms between pole owners and broadband providers, expediting dispute resolution processes, and regulating the timely review of pole permits are some of the possible common-sense reforms that can be implemented to help expedite broadband deployment within the state.

Federal and state policymakers must move quickly to address these pole issues if Montanans want to achieve universal connectivity throughout the state without delay.

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Edward J. Lopez is Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise at Western Carolina University.