AB 1178

This bill allows a city, village, town, or county or the Department of

Transportation to require a person who conducts any special work in the

right-of-way of the city, village, town, or county or DOT to install empty conduit lines

in any part of the right-of-way in which the person is digging. The bill defines

“special work” as construction or maintenance of a sidewalk or highway project. The

conduit lines that are required to be installed under the bill must be suitable for the

installation of fiber cable optic broadband lines. The bill allows a city, village, or town

to require conduit line installation without complying with notice, hearing, and

cost-benefit analysis requirements that, with certain exceptions, apply to

broadband, telecommunications, and video service facilities under current law.

The bill also imposes a duty to offer service on an Internet service provider that

has installed a fiber optic cable broadband line in a right-of-way of the state or a city,

village, town, or county. Under the bill, if requested by the owner of a structure that

is 300 feet or fewer from the center line of such a right-of-way, the Internet service

provider must offer to provide to the structure the service that is provided over the

line.