One Touch Make Ready (also known as One Touch, and often abbreviated as OTMR) is the various statutes and local ordinances passed by various local governments and utilities in the United States, which require the owners of utility poles to allow a single construction crew to make changes to multiple utility wires.
Effect
Background Across the United States, utility poles in a given area may be owned by the local government, a municipal electric company, a private entity, or any combination of the three. In most cases, the poles are owned by a private entity, like a local incumbent phone company or electric company.
Make Ready Work Before an Internet Service Provider (or any company) can add a new attachment or line to a utility pole, the existing attachments may need to be moved around so that the pole can be made ready to handle a new attachment or line. This is known as 'Make Ready work.' The reason Make Ready work is necessary is that, under Federal Law, to prevent the risk of outages or other issues, lines on utility poles must be spaced a certain distance apart from each other based on how many lines are on the pole. Under federal guidelines, Make Ready Work must occur sequentially, meaning that attachments can only be moved in the order with which they were originally placed on the line. This process can create massive delays, as well as other large disruptions in high traffic areas, such as alongside major roadways. In addition, the make ready work can take months, or even years, to complete as every company involved must send out their own approved contractor to move only their respective attachment. Each contractor must also schedule their work to not conflict with other contractors performing Make Ready Work, as well as taking into account other local factors, such as weather, traffic, and maintenance work (such as road paving). These factors must be considered as the United States primarily uses aerial work platforms to perform Make Ready Work.
One Touch Make Ready To rectify these issues, several local governments have passed One Touch Make Ready legislation. While specific portions of the statutes vary, all carry a unifying theme that under these laws, certified construction crews chosen either by the pole owners or local governments are allowed to make all the necessary changes to a utility pole to make it ready for a new attachment. In a location which has adopted one touch make-ready, companies that own utility poles must agree on one or more common contractors that have permission to move existing attachments on a pole, allowing a single crew to move all attachments on a pole on a single visit, rather than sending in a unique crew to move each attachment sequentially.
Differences between localities
Nashville Nashville's OTMR ordinance is unique in that it requires a company that has reached an agreement to install a new line on a pole to give every company already on the pole 30 days' notice to move their equipment. If those companies have not moved their equipment within 30 days, then the company installing the new line can perform the complex make-ready work themselves. If that work causes any errors or problems, the companies already on the pole can recoup expenses caused by those errors from the company that did the work.
Implementation in various areas As of August 2017, only three cities in the United States have One Touch Make Ready statutes: Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; and San Antonio, Texas. Numerous other cities are in various stages along the process of implementing the One Touch Make Ready system.
Louisville, Kentucky On February 11, 2016, the City Council of Louisville, Kentucky voted 23–0 to adopt a One Touch Make-Ready Statute, making it the first city in the country to adopt such legislation. According to city councilman Bill Hollander, who sponsored the legislation "This will help businesses locate here and grow here. It will create jobs, and will retain and attract our young people and make Louisville broadband ready." These sentiments were echoed by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, who stated that it would help lay the groundwork for entities like Google Fiber, and said "Tonight's vote puts Louisville one step closer toward becoming a Google Fiber city." The legislation states that an applicant for attachment must first receive approval from the existing pole owners, at which point it may contract a pre-approved construction crew to perform all make ready work at its own expense. Pole owners and pre-existing providers whose wires were moved may choose to do post-make ready work inspections and call for remedial work if needed, at the new provider's expense.
San Antonio, Texas On May 6, 2016, San Antonio's municipal utility, CPS Energy, adopted broad new guidelines which included many of the fundamental principles of One Touch Make Ready legislation. The standards include specific requirements for OTMR, and include what needs to happen before, during and after the process. The 128-page standards are far more detailed than the legislation passed by Louisville, Kentucky a few months prior. This is mainly due to CPS being an electric company. The Introduction of the standards states:
From a holistic perspective, the[se] Standards seek to balance the competing needs and interests of multiple communications providers to access and utilize CPS Energy Poles, while at the same time recognizing that the core purpose and function of these Poles is for CPS Energy's safe and reliable distribution and delivery of electric services to CPS Energy customers. Hence, any use of CPS Energy's Poles must at all times ensure the continued operational integrity, safety, and reliability of CPS Energy's Facilities, electric services, personnel and the general public. The standards go on to lay out technical provisions, administrative procedures, as well as various specific provisions for both wired and wireless utility pole attachments. They incorporate recommendations from the FCC on how best to expand broadband while also addressing safety concerns by working into the guidelines various safety standards recommended by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
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