Pole attachment disputes add 12-18 months and 4-10x cost to fiber builds

When an ISP wants to string fiber on existing utility poles, the pole owner (typically an electric utility) requires 'make-ready' work -- moving existing cables, reinforcing or replacing the pole. Who pays for pole replacement is a bitter, unresolved dispute: utilities say the new attacher should pay the full cost of replacing a 40-year-old rotting pole ($3,000-$7,000 per pole), while ISPs argue they shouldn't subsidize decades of deferred pole maintenance. So what? A single RDOF awardee returned tens of thousands of funded locations across Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, and Wisconsin in April 2024 specifically because of 'unforeseeable costs, primarily costs associated with the need for extensive utility pole replacements.' This means rural communities that were promised broadband lose it because of a cost-allocation fight between two private companies. The problem persists because pole ownership is a natural monopoly -- there's only one set of poles along a road -- and no federal rule clearly assigns replacement costs, leaving it to state-by-state litigation.