Charles Gucker wrote:
On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 12:45 AM, Frank Bulk<frnk...@iname.com> wrote:
I don't think a muni can prevent the ILEC from installing fiber in their RoW....
First off, IANAL, Secondly, I've had a reasonable amount of experience
with Village and Municipal Law. In short, the statement above is
incorrect, in so much that the RoW is not that of the ILEC, but rather
the ILEC's ability to use the Muni's RoW. So, if the Municipality
wanted to prevent the ILEC, or any company with RoW use rights, they
certainly can. Unfortunately, a lot of the terms of the
arrangement between the Municipalities and Telco's were written back
in the 20's and 30's. So, the "restriction" would have to be put
into terms of that agreement.
But in the end, it's up to the Municipality to set the guidelines (as
with any local law) within the borders of their Municipality.
(Talking US only...)
Guess you weren't around when the Telecom Act hit... "you mean anybody
who wants to can dig up our streets to lay cable???!!!!" And today's
cable franchising exercises have become almost a joke - given the
restrictions implied by Federal and State laws.
Re. terms that were "written in the 20s and 30s"... where it gets really
interesting are places like Texas, where there are perpetual ROW grants
that predate statehood, and can not be rewritten or renegotiated. Also
some interesting legacies from ROW grants associated with building the
transcontinental railroads (e.g., the City of Abilene, TX has to pay the
Southern Pacific Railroad, or its successor, to run fiber along
underpasses where their tracks bisect the City).
--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
