AT&T sues Nashville over “one touch” rule

The Nashville, TN Metro Council passed a “One Touch Make Ready” rule that allows third parties like Google Fiber to move, alter, or remove cable, telephone, and utility company equipment on utility poles. AT&T filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that the statute violates federal pole attachment rules.

At first impression, One Touch Make Ready may seem a reasonable step to facilitate deployment of competitive networks. But it raises a number of problems. If the contractor doesn’t do the job properly, who is responsible if the customer loses services? But more important, the work of handling telecommunication equipment is dangerous. AT&T's union workers complete rigorous training programs and possess years of experience installing, moving, and maintaining this equipment. In addition, this work has been a subject of negotiation between AT&T and its workers for decades. Google and Nashville are essentially superseding a contract negotiated between a company and its workers.

The irony is that Google Fiber appears to be shutting down plans for wireline broadband expansion in other cities. So, while Google is pushing One Touch Make Ready laws that violate union contracts and federal regulations, the company’s hype about broadband competition appears to be mostly talk.

Links:

AT&T sues Nashville in bid to stall Google Fiber (Ars Technica, Sept. 23, 2016)

Fiber fight in Louisville: it's about safety, fairness as much as competition (Speed Matters, Mar. 11, 2016)

Google Fiber -- there’s not much “there” there (Speed Matters, Sept. 2, 2016)