Charter, Altice USA find a common enemy in investor-owned utilities

Pole attachment issues are nothing new in the broadband space, but a fresh focal point is emerging in the long-running discussion in this arena: the role of investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Charter Communications and Altice USA both flagged their experiences with such companies in recent filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), warning permitting practices implemented by IOUs could slow their broadband deployments by years. The issues are apparently so bad that Altice said it could be forced to take construction underground at four times the cost of its aerial deployment plan.