The League of Minnesota Cities (LMC), the Suburban Rate Authority (SRA), and the Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators (MACTA) have jointly submitted comments the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry (NOI): Acceleration of Broadband Deployment: Expanding the Reach and Reducing the Cost of Broadband Deployment by Improving Policies Regarding Public Rights of Way and Wireless. The NOI is looking for comments on local governments’ rights of way management and compensation practices and policies.

The National Broadband Plan introduces the idea of big changes in policy with an effort to increase deployment (and adoption). I suspect the comments would be interesting to read because there are so many approaches to deployment. The devil is really in the detail. The LMC, SRA and MACTA have really focused on Rights of Way…

These comments respond to the main NOI topic areas by explaining ROW and facility management practices in Minnesota and describing how such practices effectively provide access to communications providers while protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public. The regulatory framework for use of city, town and county ROWs in Minnesota is principally governed by Minnesota Statue, Section 237.162 and 237.163 and Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) Rules. These statues and rules draw from the long history in the US and Minnesota regarding the common law of city police power.

They go on to detail the policy in Minnesota; it’s a great primer (or a reminder). They strive to make the case that the FCC should consider the experience and success of state policymakers when moving forward with federal policies…

The LMC, SRA and MACTA do not believe that Minnesota Statutes, rules or local ordinances have discouraged or created barriers to broadband deployment. Minnesota cities welcome and desire broadband deployment, and our policies allow us to work with any company willing to provide service. We believe our policies have helped to avoid problems and delays in broadband deployment.

We urge the Commission to conclude that ROW and facility management and charges are not impeding broadband deployment. There are concrete reasons to believe that additional federal regulations would prove costly and disruptive to our communities. There is simply no need for such additional regulation.