# Your utility pole attachment applications sit in a shared mailbox while the 45 day clock runs down.

![A joint use coordinator checking pole survey photographs against an attachment application on a utility office screen, used to show where the federal clock is actually tracked.](https://neurobird.com/utilitypole/utilitypole-hero.webp)
*The 45 day clock starts at a complete application, not at the first email.*

> Utility pole attachment management is the work of tracking third party requests to hang wire on poles a utility owns, from application through survey, make ready construction and final permit. Federal timelines govern each step. A utility must grant or deny access within 45 days of a complete application, surveys and make ready run on their own clocks, and the paperwork proving you met them lives in email, spreadsheets and a mapping system that do not talk to each other.

- URL: https://neurobird.com/utilitypole/
- Product: Neurobird Utility Pole Attachment Compliance Platform
- Niche: utility pole attachment
- Buyer: electric utilities and communications attachers
- Status: in development, open for early access
- Updated: 2026-08-25

## What Neurobird Utility Pole Attachment does

- Start a clock on every application the moment a complete package arrives and show what is due next.
- Hold survey notes, photos and field measurements against the pole they describe, not in a mailbox.
- Calculate make ready cost allocation from recorded usable space rather than a rebuilt spreadsheet.
- Keep an export that answers a rate complaint with pole counts, space and dates already assembled.

## How it works

1. **Intake** A new attacher files a request, the system checks the package is complete and starts the 45 day response clock with the due date visible to everyone touching the file.
2. **Survey and make ready** Field results attach to individual poles, the estimate builds from recorded usable space, and the 60 day preparation window for the communications space is tracked separately.
3. **Record and defend** Every decision, date and measurement stays on the pole record, so a rate or access dispute is answered from evidence instead of memory.

## From the source material

> A new attacher shall notify the affected utility and existing attachers within 15 days after completion of make-ready on a particular pole.

Source: 47 CFR 1.1411, timeline for access to utility poles, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/1.1411

## Industry context

- **300 poles** The standard access timeline applies only up to the lesser of 300 poles or 0.5 percent of a utility's poles in a state, above which longer windows apply. (source: 47 CFR 1.1411, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/1.1411)
- **3,000 poles** A Large Order begins at the lesser of 3,000 poles or 5 percent of the utility's poles in a state. (source: 47 CFR 1.1411, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/1.1411)
- **60 days** Existing attachers must prepare the pole within 60 days of notice for the communications space, and 90 days for attachments above it. (source: FCC Third Report and Order, https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-352544A1.pdf)
- **13.5 feet** 13.5 feet of usable space per pole may be presumed in a rate complaint instead of measuring, though the presumption can be rebutted. (source: FCC pole attachment complaint rules, https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/mdrd/rules/pole.html)
- **24 foot** A 24 foot unusable space presumption is available on the same terms when a rate is challenged. (source: FCC pole attachment complaint rules, https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/mdrd/rules/pole.html)

## Pricing

- Single utility: $180 per month
- Joint use team: $420 per month
- Multi state: $880 per month

## Questions

### What is utility pole attachment management?

It is the process of handling third party requests to attach wire to poles a utility owns, and keeping the record that proves each federal step was met. That covers the application itself, the survey of the poles requested, the make ready construction needed to fit the new line, the permit, and the annual rate the attacher pays. The work is mostly evidence. When a dispute arrives, the question is always whether the dates, pole counts and space measurements were recorded when they happened.

### How long does a utility have to answer an application?

Under 47 CFR 1.1411 a utility must respond to the new attacher by either granting access or denying it within 45 days of receiving a complete application. The word complete matters, because an incomplete package does not start the clock. Larger orders carry longer windows, and the survey of the poles has its own timeline running alongside. Tracking one date is not enough, which is why applications get answered late even when nobody intended to delay.

### What counts as a large order?

The rules set thresholds by pole count and by share of a utility's poles in a state. A Mid-Sized Order starts above the lesser of 300 poles or 0.5 percent. A Large Order starts above the lesser of 3,000 poles or 5 percent, running up to the lesser of 6,000 poles or 10 percent. Above that the utility and the attacher negotiate the timing in good faith rather than following a fixed clock.

### Do we have to measure usable space on every pole?

Not necessarily. In a rate complaint the FCC allows a presumption of 13.5 feet of usable space and 24 feet of unusable space per pole in place of actual measurement. Both presumptions can be rebutted, so a utility or attacher holding real measurements is in a stronger position than one relying on the default.

### Is this software available now?

No. It is in development and open for early access. We are building it with joint use coordinators so the record matches how the work is actually done rather than how a rulebook describes it.

## Sources

- [47 CFR 1.1411, timeline for access to utility poles](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/1.1411)
- [47 U.S.C. 224, pole attachments](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/224)
- [FCC, pole attachment complaint rules](https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/mdrd/rules/pole.html)
- [FCC Third Report and Order, one touch make ready](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-352544A1.pdf)

## Contact

- office@neurobird.com
- https://neurobird.com/