H3450 — An Act to establish municipal access to utility poles located in municipal rights-of-way

Summary

An Act to establish municipal access to utility poles located in municipal rights-of-way

Bill Text

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The bill adds definitions and provisions regarding make-ready work and responsibilities for shared-use pole attachments in relation to broadband service for unserved or underserved areas.

• Chapter 166, Section 22A

  (j) “Make-ready work”, the rearrangement or transfer of existing facilities, replacement of a pole, complete removal of any pole replaced or any other changes required to make space available for an additional attachment to a shared-use pole. (k) “Unserved or underserved area”, an area that the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, established pursuant to section 6B of chapter 40J, determines to meet criteria under subsection (e) of said section 6B. Criteria established by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute to define unserved and underserved areas shall include the percentage of households with access to broadband service within a municipality or other appropriate geographic area.

  This change adds new definitions for 'make-ready work' and 'unserved or underserved area' to the law.

• Chapter 166, Section 22J

  Section 22J ½. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for the purpose of safeguarding access to infrastructure essential to public health, safety and welfare, an owner of a shared-use pole and each entity attaching to that pole is responsible for that owner's or entity's own expenses for make-ready work to accommodate a municipality's attaching its facilities to that shared-use pole: (i) for a governmental purpose consistent with the police power of the municipality; or (ii) for the purpose of providing broadband service to an unserved or underserved area. For the purpose of this section the term “shared use pole” shall include, but not be limited to poles and structures constructed pursuant to section 24, attachments as defined in section 25A, or poles and overhead wires and associated overhead structures.

  This change creates a new section that articulates the financial responsibilities related to make-ready work for shared-use poles when municipalities attach their facilities, especially for broadband service.

Sponsors

• III John Barrett · Primary

Subjects