BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1549
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Date of Hearing: January 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 1549
(Wood) - As Amended January 4, 2016
SUBJECT: Department of Transportation: state highway
rights-of-way: fiber-optic cables: inventory
SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to maintain an inventory of all conduits for
fiber-optic cables within state highway rights-of-way and to
make the information available to the public upon request.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations setting forth
policies related to telecommunications in California that
strive for ubiquitous availability to high-quality
telecommunications services in California.
2)As set forth in a 2006 Governor's Executive Order (S-23-06),
created the California Broadband Task Force to facilitate
widespread deployment of state-of-the-art telecommunications
technology. The Executive Order specifically required, in
part:
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a) The Business, Transportation, and Housing (BTH) Agency
to establish a database of current and prospective projects
for deploying broadband. The database was to be available
for use by broadband providers, state entities, and
municipalities;
b) State agencies to place broadband conduit in their
infrastructure projects for use by multiple government
entities and broadband providers; and
c) State agencies to expedite permitting for broadband
providers' requests for access to rights-of-way.
3)Generally authorizes Caltrans to lease to public agencies or
private entities the use of areas above or below state
highways, subject to any reservations, restrictions, and
conditions that the department deems necessary to ensure
adequate protection to the safety and the adequacy of highway
facilities.
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
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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.
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.
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Caltrans issues approximately 12,000 encroachment permits
annually, about 4,000 to 5,000 of which are telecommunications
related and may involve broadband installations. The department
does not keep a complete inventory of all existing conduits
within its right-of-way, due in part to its inability to
adequately secure as-built documents from utilities when they do
work within the right-of-way. Furthermore, the department does
not update encroachment permit data over time. For instance, it
does not track changes in ownership of a particular installation
nor does it keep track of whether the installation is still
active or has been abandoned.
Committee concerns and author's proposed amendments:
1)It is unclear that a lack of access to state highways is a
major impediment to wide-scale deployment of high-speed
internet access, particularly in light of Caltrans' experience
in the California Broadband Initiative.
2)Even if Caltrans were to have the inventory required by this
bill, there is no assurance that it would be useful, in part
because the data would not necessarily be current.
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3)In at least one case, a provider seeking an encroachment
permit asked Caltrans to keep confidential the location of the
telecommunication installation for fear of vandalism.
Presumably, wide-scale public availability of information
related to specific telecommunications facilities in state
highway rights-of-way could evoke similar concerns from other
providers.
4)Overall, it is doubtful that the resources required by
Caltrans to keep an inventory current would be commensurate
with the benefits in terms of increasing access to
telecommunications.
In response to these concerns, the author has indicated his
intent to take amendments in committee that would limit the
required inventory to conduits owned by Caltrans that are
installed after 2016. These amendments will reduce the burden
on Caltrans to comply with the requirements of the bill and
offer a reasonable chance that the inventory may facilitate
co-location of additional broadband installations.
Pending legislation: Federal legislation (HR 3805, Eschoo) is
pending that would enact the Broadband Conduit Deployment Act to
expand high-speed internet access. The bill 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.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093