Joey Garrison

Even before the pandemic, which largely confined most Americans to their homes for months, communities that lacked reliable high-speed internet began falling behind those that were well-connected.

Google Fiber scored a major victory in its effort to expand to Nashville (TN), netting final Metro Council approval of a proposal known as One Touch Make Ready that the company has made the focal point of its gigabit Internet rollout here. But while the council's action — which came by a voice vote — caps weeks of intense debate and failed negotiations surrounding utility pole attachment methods, it probably sets the stage for a legal battle.

Executives from AT&T, which sued Louisville (KY) after it passed a similar ordinance, have made clear that Nashville can expect a lawsuit if One Touch Make Ready becomes law. Supporters of Google Fiber have framed the issue as allowing more competition against existing providers Comcast and AT&T, which have both opposed the measure. The council's top proponents pushed that theme Sept 20. The council's approval came after it first voted 26-12 to defeat a proposal from Antioch-area Councilwoman Tanaka Vercher, a critic of the measure, to delay voting for two meetings. She said the council needed more information on how Google plans to pick which communities it will serve. A similar deferral effort was narrowly defeated by the council two weeks ago. The ordinance now heads to the desk of Mayor Megan Barry, who has refrained from taking an up-or-down position on One Touch Make Ready, seeking compromise among providers. Nevertheless, she plans to sign the bill into law. “One Touch Make Ready appears to be a common-sense way of speeding up the deployment of high-speed Internet throughout Davidson County," Barry said in a statement.

In the face of a legal threat and opposition from Nashville’s (TN) two largest internet providers, the Metro Council on Sept 6 gave preliminary approval of legislation that Google Fiber says is critical for its broadband rollout into Nashville. The council voted by a wide 32-7 margin to advance Google Fiber-backed legislation dubbed One Touch Make Ready that would change the city's policy regarding utility poles and help expedite Google Fiber's entry into the Nashville market. The vote was the second of three required to pass the ordinance. The council's action was a big win for Google Fiber and came after the council voted 20-19 to defeat an effort opposed by Google Fiber to delay consideration of the ordinance until December.

"This is an extremely big step forward, an extremely big net positive for Nashville, for internet competition," said Councilman Jeremy Elrod, one of the bill's co-sponsors. "It increases competition, increases telecom and internet investment for we as a city and our citizens as a whole." At issue is a process of attaching new lines to utility poles. Google Fiber says the current system could be improved by allowing one contractor to move all lines at once to make a pole ready for a new provider. New companies must currently wait on each existing provider to move their lines, a process that can take a few months per line and that delays internet installation.