Rights-of-Way permits are issued to parties laying fiber-optic cables over privately owned property or through parks, waterways, and other areas that have been designated as public spaces. To get a permit, applicants fill out an application form with the details of their fiber-network route. They then submit this permit request along with aerial imagery and CAD drawings of their proposed network design to the city's Planning Department. The city's Planning Department, in conjunction with the City Attorney's office, then looks at the network design and the permit requirements. The Planning Department then issues a recommendation to either approve or deny the permit request. If the city's Planning Department recommends approval and the City Attorney's office concurs, then the final decision is sent to the mayor or another senior city official for approval.
These permits are issued to local governments by the state's Department of Commerce. These permits tell local governments whether a proposed fiber-optic project is allowed within a designated area like a public park, roadway, or waterways. The Division of State Lands (DSL) at California's Department of Conservation also has permitting authority over Rights-of-Way permitting in certain circumstances. Both DSL and cities have been flexible in working with broadband providers on Rights-of-Way applications. The city's Planning Department is responsible for reviewing the permit applications from fiber-to-the-home providers. The Planning Department looks at a number of factors including whether the proposed route is compatible with city traffic plans, if there is an existing right of way in place, and the available space along that route where a fiber optic cable can be laid.
In general, most cities require fiber-optic providers to complete three basic steps when filing a Rights-of-Way permit application:
1. This process can be completed within 60 days after planning departments have received new or revised plans from broadband providers.
2. Once the application is complete, a certain amount of notice is given to potential residents and businesses in the area so they can comment about the proposal.
3. After a 30-day public comment period, city officials take a vote on whether to approve or deny the application.
In some cases, city officials have asked broadband providers not to erect conduit if requested by nearby residents. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, for example, fiber providers were prohibited from using their conduits within 400 feet of homes and businesses. This measure was meant to protect surrounding residences from excessive noise caused by digging up and installing fiber optic cable along routes that included proposed conduit locations.
When broadband providers seek to lay fiber-optic cable in a city's public right of way, they sometimes ask that the roadway they plan on laying cable along be closed to other traffic. For example, in 2005, CableOne asked that the intersection near its Hamilton Avenue facility in San Bernardino, California be closed to traffic for a period of six weeks so it could lay its fiber optic cable there. The city agreed and temporarily closed the intersection. CableOne laid its fiber there without any problems. In 2006, another broadband provider, Verizon DSL, asked that all intersections near its facility at Mountain Air Services in Gilbert be closed for four months so it could lay its fiber optic lines there. The city agreed and traffic was temporarily rerouted during that time.
Cities have generally been accommodating of requests by fiber providers to closestreets for a short period of time to lay fiber optic cable. In some cases, cities have allowed the ceremony to be televised to increase their appeal and to allow residents a chance to see the process first-hand. City officials in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for example, allowed WOW! Internet's installation ceremony to be televised because they felt it presented a great opportunity for residents and businesses in that region.
Before completing its work in a city's right of way, an organization must provide information about the project's funding source or sources to the city government. The broadband provider must also explain why it wants to lay a fiber-optic cable in the right of way. Officials in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for example, have asked that the broadband providers provide copies of their business plans so they can vet the companies' financial capabilities. City officials in San Bernardino, California have also asked telecom providers to provide information about their financials so city officials can determine if they are financially capable of completing a project. In official documents from cities in Florida, we can see that Rights-of-Way permits cost the most compared with the rest hence it is important to have them done as impeccably as possible as a failure on these dimensions can have a huge financial toll on a project.
In the next installment of the blog, we will talk about contractors, network testing, and the effect of government restrictions on permits in the fiber deployment process.
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