Who Pays for Make-Ready in Pennsylvania?

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In Pennsylvania the new attacher generally pays for the make-ready its own attachment requires, including moving other companies’ lines, and existing attachers pay nothing unless they use the work to add to or change their own facilities. When a pole already needed replacing, because it was red-tagged, failed current standards or carried someone else’s violation, the pole owner cannot bill the new attacher for the whole pole, and the attacher owes at most the extra cost of a taller or stronger pole. These are FCC rules enforced by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, and electric cooperative poles sit outside them, so on co-op poles the contract decides.

Does Pennsylvania use the FCC pole attachment rules or its own?

Both. Pennsylvania has certified to the FCC that it regulates pole attachments itself under 47 U.S.C. 224(c). The FCC’s most recent published list of certified states, released June 13, 2022, includes Pennsylvania. The PUC took over jurisdiction on March 18, 2020, through 52 Pa. Code Chapter 77.

Chapter 77 adopts the FCC’s pole attachment rules at 47 CFR 1.1401 onward, including future amendments. A new FCC amendment takes effect in Pennsylvania 60 days after it takes effect federally, unless the PUC publishes a notice saying it may not. Complaints go to the PUC, not the FCC.

FCC declaratory rulings are not rule text, so they do not carry over automatically. In October 2024 the PUC said the FCC’s 2023 rulings on red-tagged poles and pole replacements may be considered “persuasive authority” in Pennsylvania.

Who pays when the pole has room and only needs rearranging?

The new attacher, in most cases. Under 47 CFR 1.1408(b), the cost of modifying a pole is borne by every party that gains access because of the modification or directly benefits from it, in proportion. An existing attacher pays nothing to rearrange or replace its own attachment when the work is needed solely because of someone else’s new attachment. Section 224(i) of the Communications Act says the same.

Two exceptions apply. An existing attacher that adds to or modifies its own attachment after the utility’s notice shares the cost. A party that attaches later shares if the earlier modification made its attachment possible.

The utility must give the new attacher a detailed, itemized estimate within 14 days of completing the survey, pole by pole if requested. If actual costs differ, the utility must send an itemized final invoice.

What changes when the pole has to be replaced?

It depends on why. If the replacement is needed solely to make room for the new attachment, the new attacher bears the cost. If the pole already needed replacing when the application came in, the utility cannot put the entire cost on the new attacher.

The FCC’s December 2023 order defined a “red tagged” pole as one the utility has identified for replacement for any reason other than lack of capacity for a new attachment. It also gave examples of replacements that are not caused solely by the attacher. These include replacements required by law, poles failing engineering standards, a change in the utility’s own construction standards, road expansion, and poles already on the replacement schedule. In July 2025 the FCC rejected a utility challenge to the construction standards example. It limited that test to the utility’s current standard and the one immediately before it.

Separately, the FCC’s make-ready rule at 47 CFR 1.1411 bars a utility from charging a new attacher to bring poles or other parties’ equipment into compliance when someone else caused the problem.

How does the FCC split a replacement cost in practice?

In February 2026 the FCC struck down a utility policy of charging new attachers the full cost of replacing poles with preexisting violations (Comcast v. Appalachian Power, FCC 26-6). It gave a worked example. A 45-foot pole costing $5,000 would fix the existing violation. The new attacher needs a 50-foot pole costing $5,500. The new attacher pays $500, the difference. The utility should seek the $5,000 from the attacher that caused the violation.

That case arose in Virginia, where the FCC has jurisdiction. Chapter 77 directs the PUC to treat FCC orders as persuasive authority.

Does one-touch make-ready change who pays?

The FCC adopted one-touch make-ready in its August 2018 order. For simple make-ready in the communications space, the new attacher can elect to do the surveys and the work itself with a qualified contractor. The new attacher carries those costs. The FCC declined to make them reimburse existing attachers who choose to monitor the work. Self-help is not available for pole replacements, so the utility still controls those.

What about electric co-op and municipal poles?

Section 224 does not cover them. Its definition of “utility” excludes anyone “cooperatively organized” or owned by a state, and “State” includes political subdivisions. Chapter 77 carries the same exclusions. On these poles the attachment agreement and the owner’s make-ready policy set the split, so get that policy in writing before design starts.

How can an ISP or co-op project manager limit surprises?

Request the utility’s cyclical pole inspection data with your application. That rule took effect in Pennsylvania October 9, 2024, and the utility has 10 business days to answer. Red-tag status changes who pays. Ask for pole-by-pole estimates. For disputes, the PUC offers mediation, formal complaints and an expedited Rapid Broadband Assessment Team process set up in January 2025.

This is general information, not legal advice. Chapter 77 does not override lawful terms in a negotiated agreement, so your attachment agreement controls.

Who pays what in Pennsylvania

Situation	New attacher pays	Pole owner pays	Existing attachers pay
New attachment on a pole with space	Make-ready for its attachment	Nothing extra	Nothing
Rearranging existing attachers	Cost of the moves	Nothing extra	Nothing, unless they also modify their own attachment
Replacement needed solely for the new attachment	Replacement cost	Nothing extra	Nothing
Pole at end of life, red-tagged or failing standards	At most the extra cost of a taller or stronger pole	The base replacement	Nothing
Preexisting violation by another attacher	At most the extra cost of a taller or stronger pole	Recovers from the violator	The violator pays the fix
Electric co-op or municipal pole	Per contract	Per contract	Per contract

FAQ

Is Pennsylvania an FCC state for pole attachments?

No. The PUC has regulated pole attachments since March 18, 2020, using the FCC’s rules as adopted in Chapter 77.

Can a utility make the new attacher pay for a red-tagged pole?

Not the full cost. The attacher pays at most the incremental cost of a taller or stronger pole it needs.

Do PUC pole rules apply to electric cooperative poles?

No. Cooperatives are excluded from Section 224 and Chapter 77, so the attachment agreement governs.

For pole preparation and installation, cable lashing and ADSS work, see our outside plant construction services.

How are make-ready costs split between the attacher and the pole owner in Pennsylvania?