Consolidated Seeks More Time for CPUC Pole Attachments Data Request

Consolidated Communications wants 18 more months to provide pole attachment data required by a 2021 California Public Utilities Commission decision (D.21-10-019), the telco said in a Friday letter to CPUC Executive Director Rachel Peterson. “Validating many of Consolidated’s data point responses will require an exact understanding where each pole is located, and Consolidated relies upon the pole owner to make available that specific pole location information in the form of a database,” it said. “Databases are not yet fully available for pole location information.” Validation will require “a comprehensive field inspection of each of the approximately 30,000 poles Consolidated is attached to,” said the telco: Consolidated will have to bring in outside contractors to do inspections and collect data but lacks resources in this year’s budget “to absorb what amounts to a seven figure expense,” it said. Consolidated will budget the expense for next year, it said. An 18-month extension would give the company until March 3, 2025, to provide the data.