AT&T Backs Off Nuisance Lawsuit Intended To Hamstring Broadband Competitors Like Google Fiber

The boring old utility pole has long been at the heart of this country's broadband dysfunction. As it stands now, competing ISPs looking to deploy fiber need to contact each individual ISP -- and wait for them to finalize layers of paperwork and move their own gear -- before the competitor can attach fiber to the pole. Needless to say, ISPs have often abused this bureaucracy to stall competitors' arrival to market. So over the last few years Google Fiber has convinced several cities to pass "one touch make ready" utility pole reform rules that dramatically streamline this process.

Under these reforms, one licensed, insured contractor (often the same company ISPs already use) is allowed to move any ISPs' gear -- provided they inform the ISP ahead of time and pay for any potential damages. The regulatory change can dramatically speed up fiber deployment, saving numerous months in project delays. That's why Google Fiber convinced cities like Nashville and Louisville to pass these one touch rules a few years ago.

But Nashville and Louisville were subsequently sued by Comcast, Charter and AT&T. The ISPs' lawyers threw out every legal argument they could, including claims that the cities had exceeded their legal authority, that the reforms would dramatically increase service outages, and even that the reforms violated their first amendment rights. Of course the ISPs' real problem is that such reform speeds up the arrival of a concept regional duopolies loathe: actual, genuine competition.

In this case, AT&T's gambit didn't work all that well. Back in August, a Judge killed off AT&T's lawsuit against Louisville, stating the city was well within its legal authority to manage the city's own rights of way (even though AT&T owns 40% of the poles in the city). AT&T appears to have gotten the message, as the telco told news outlets there this week they wouldn't be appealing the ruling:

"AT&T will not appeal a federal judge's ruling upholding a local law Louisville Metro passed last year to make it easier for new Internet providers like Google Fiber to access utility poles in the city. AT&T spokesman Joe Burgan confirmed the company decided not to appeal U.S. District Judge David Hale's August 16 ruling upholding the so-called "One Touch Make Ready" ordinance.

The lawsuit still had its intended effect in delaying Google Fiber in Louisville while AT&T worked to lock existing customers there into long-term contracts. Google Fiber meanwhile has been forced to pivot from fiber to wireless/fiber hybrid deployments in part to get around these lawsuits. But the company also managed to use techniques like microtrenching (which involves using machines that bury fiber just a few inches below the road's surface) instead of having to rely on access to utility poles. It's worth noting that a similar Charter lawsuit against Louisville, and AT&T and Comcast lawsuits against Nashville are still pending.

Instead of offering better, faster, cheaper service, these companies' first instinct is almost always to either file nuisance lawsuits, or to quite literally buy state laws that make life harder on would-be competitors. And while you'll often see incumbent broadband duopolies and their policy cronies crying incessantly about "burdensome regulation" while pushing for blind deregulation, the reality is these companies adore regulation -- just as long as it hurts the other guy and slows any attempt to bring competition to bear on a broken market.