BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1549
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1549 (Wood)
As Amended August 19, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(January 27, |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 17, |
| | |2016) | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), after January 1, 2017, to take certain steps to
facilitate broadband deployment.
The Senate amendments:
1)Require Caltrans, under certain conditions, to notify
companies or organizations, as defined, of anticipated
construction projects for the purpose of encouraging
collaborative broadband installations.
2)Authorize companies or organizations to collaborate with the
department to install broadband conduit as part of a project.
AB 1549
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3)Require Caltrans, by January 1, 2018, to develop guidelines to
facilitate the installation of broadband conduit on state
highway rights of way.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Long-standing federal and state policies encourage
wide-scale deployment of advanced telecommunication
capabilities. However, according to a report issued in February
2015 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), broadband
deployment in the United States - especially in rural areas - is
failing to keep pace with today's advanced, high-quality voice,
data, graphics, and video offerings. According to the FCC, 17%
of all Americans lack access to high-speed telecommunication
services. In rural areas, that number grows to 53%.
Strategies for facilitating rapid broadband deployment typically
include providing easy, quick access to public rights-of-way,
particularly longitudinal rights of way such as streets and
roads. However, according to the FCC, the largest cost of
deploying broadband is burying fiber optic cables and conduit
underground. In fact, the Federal Highway Administration
indicates that 90% of the cost of deploying broadband is due to
the cost of roadway excavation. As a result, President Obama
recently issued an executive order directing his transportation
department to facilitate expeditious access to highway
rights-of-way at minimal cost to telecommunications providers.
Caltrans, as a part of the California Broadband Initiative
developed in response to Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive
Order in 2006, instituted a policy to encourage broadband
co-location within the state highway rights-of-way. For seven
years, the department announced each upcoming highway project
and invited telecommunications providers to lay conduit as a
part of the project. In the end, not one provider participated
in the project, and the effort was disbanded.
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Telecommunications providers can still access Caltrans'
rights-of-way to install conduit via the department's
encroachment permit process, however. Furthermore, on the
wireless side of the telecommunications industry, Caltrans has
an active program to facilitate the build-out and co-location of
public and private wireless telecommunication systems. The
department participates in the state's central data base of
state-owned, non-highway properties available for use by
telecommunications providers, and it has policies and procedures
in place to streamline the necessary encroachment permits.
Pending legislation: Federal legislation (HR 3805, Eschoo) is
pending that would enact the Broadband Conduit Deployment Act to
expand high-speed internet access. HR 3805 would require
federal-aid highway projects to include broadband conduit
beneath paved surfaces if an evaluation determines that there
will be a need to install conduit sometime within the next 15
years. Similar legislation has been introduced twice before but
was unsuccessful in securing passage.
Analysis Prepared by:
Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0004807