The concept of a digital twin has been around for well over a decade, but many industries have been giving it a serious look only in the past few years. The technologies available to create digital twins have become more sophisticated, more...

Tilson is a network development and information infrastructure firm providing professional services to national communications, construction, utility, and government clients. A fast-growing part of Tilson’s business is developing poles in the...

Minnesota Power is an investor-owned utility with roughly 145,000 customers, whose services cover roughly 26,000 square miles. For much of its history, the company tracked assets on paper and basic computer databases. When Minnesota Power began...

In the past several years, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) has grown from a technology primarily used by the military, law enforcement, and large engineering firms into a useful tool for many other industries. In the U.S., LiDAR is used by...

The digital revolution that began a few decades ago continues to rapidly reshape the way companies around the world do business. Constant innovation is creating new possibilities for more efficient, more sophisticated, and more proactive business...

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is becoming a go-to technology for many industries. The use of thousands, or even millions, of laser light pulses per second to measure distances has a multitude of applications.

LiDAR has existed for decades,...

The pace of change in today’s utility and communications landscape is accelerating almost constantly. Joint use requests are multiplying, especially with the ongoing 5G rollout and the resulting explosion in the deployment of small cell...

Across the country today, the broadband industry is working fervently to bring 5G service to a massive number of Americans.

For the consumer, 5G will mean speeds and bandwidth far eclipsing what 4G offers. Beyond that, it will continue to build...

Utility companies have always needed data that supplies an up-to-date picture of their infrastructure. Traditionally, that was gathered by experienced field technicians making visual observations, taking photographs, and measuring assets using...

Let’s start with a common scenario: A communications company files a permitting application with an electric utility to attach equipment to a few of the owner's poles.

The utility is under a federally mandated deadline to respond. The company...

The 5G rollout has begun in cities across the U.S., and applications for small cell attachments to utility and streetlight poles are mushrooming. The buildout of 5G infrastructure is expected to continue for much of the decade.

Utility professionals have always been at war with the weather. Disruptive storms, whether in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, or flash floods, have posed a continual threat to utility infrastructure.

The past few years have brought significant changes to the electric utility and communications sectors. The small cell revolution is underway, and poles are sprouting attachments at an accelerating pace. New FCC rules are putting joint use...

The decision to implement a storm hardening program is a big step for any utility company. Large-scale storm hardening can be cost-prohibitive and may take years to complete, especially for larger utilities responsible for millions of assets.

Weather-related power outages have been inevitable as long as electric utilities have existed. The basic questions utilities ask are the same, although the answers change:

• How quickly can power be restored?
• What restoration time is acceptable?

Utilities have always had to contend with the ravages of weather, particularly after massive storms that damaged or destroyed large swaths of utility infrastructure. In recent years, "super storms" and other major weather events that cause...

As LIDAR technology becomes more affordable, an increasing number of utility companies are using it to collect asset data.

LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) uses many thousands of laser light pulses per second to measure distances (single...

For years, the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies across the country have found Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), a useful tool in situations when precise measurements are essential. The technology consists of a device that emits a...

In the previous two posts of this series (view here and here), we discussed steps the FCC is taking to reinvigorate the pace of broadband deployment nationwide – with focus on closing the digital divide in rural and tribal areas.

In the first post of this series, we discussed reasons why the FCC repealed the Title II Order (net neutrality) as a step to accelerate broadband deployment.  

"…While we are now headed in the right direction, our work has just begun. Far too...

The FCC’s Course Correction to Accelerate Deployment in 2018

In the last post, we discussed the challenges created when asset owners are the only source of information on current field conditions, and the dangers of individual assets being inspected once every decade or less. This situation means it is...

In our last post, we examined reasons why line workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in America. More than just the risks of high voltage lines and working from large heights, another significant impact on field safety is lack of access to...

Industry professionals understand the risks line workers face all too well. However, many customers may be surprised to learn that installers and repairers are among the top ten most dangerous jobs in the country. This statistic includes fatal...

When a storm or other major event looms on the horizon, utility and communications companies turn to mutual aid organizations for fast, urgent, and widespread support. These organizations empower networks to respond quickly to the unpredictable...

For joint use asset owners that are already stretched thin managing their plant, the trend of more frequent and more powerful natural disasters is a threat. If climate scientists are correct, events like the hurricanes and wildfires that have...

2017 was one of the worst years on record for wildfires in the Western U.S. According to a report from NPR; there were 123 large wildland fires burning on about 2 million acres of land in California, Oregon, Washington, and Montana during 2017. 

While downed lines or other utility factors only cause a small fraction of wildfires, one fire is too many when the loss to property and life can be so massive. Wildfires and other damaging situations can result from infrequent maintenance and...

In 2017, more than 37,000 wildfires burned 5.2 million acres nationwide. Fire season in some areas has become nearly year-round, a significant change from fifty years ago when fire season was typically only in summer and fall. Compared to the...

Why is it common for a provider to require several months (or more) to respond to a permit to attach request? Often, poor data is to blame. Owners may not be able to readily access the last time a safety inspection was performed, what condition...

Our communities are built on the success of our infrastructure. When something fails, we are all impacted – whether that infrastructure is a road, a bridge, power plant, or utility pole. Many people pass through their days unaware of the complex...

Despite initiatives like the FCC's Connect America Fund, which aims to offset the costs of installing broadband infrastructure to rural and underserved areas, broadband deployment across the U.S. remains unsatisfactorily slow.

Facing struggles with sluggish broadband deployment? A shared, centralized asset database can help asset owners and attachers speed up the process. 

Telecommunications, broadband, and other service providers that want to attach to utility poles...

Before asset owners can reap the benefits of a centralized platform, they must be confident that their data will be completely secure.

The U.S. power grid is one of the top concerns for national security. Americans saw the very real threat of...

Search tools deliver faster, more accessible results than traditional reports.

Data is a hot topic today. How do you collect it? Store it? And make use of it all? Believe it or not, more data was created in the last two years than in the previous...

Create a community of trained users to maximize your system’s value.

This time of year is all about celebrating America’s roots of independence and liberty. The United States was founded on self-reliance and human ingenuity. Each July 4th, we pay homage to those who helped establish our great country.

Modern and Innovative: Asset Management in One Centralized System

In an ideal world, every company involved in the joint sharing of field assets would be able to have a secure, expansive system that integrates all relevant data into one place....

The vast amount of asset data is overwhelming. Where should you begin?

Traditional joint use management began as a manual process. While much technology has been introduced, there is still more to do. Asset owners must be able to share timely and...

Better data management, consistency, and communication: three concepts to unite safety and access, multiplying productivity for all parties.

An intricate weaving of wires to the untrained eye, power lines, telephone lines, CATV lines, fiber, and...

Lack of Shared Data & Poor Communication impedes Broadband Deployment

Data security threats have become a primary focus for utility asset owners, as the risks from cyber threats grow in frequency and sophistication. A recent report published on the U.S. Department of Energy website states that:

“There have been no...

It’s been all over the news this past year: Google Fiber made plans to deploy broadband into several markets at a breakneck pace. Speed to market is critical and the behemoth company hit roadblocks. While we do not speak for Google, delays on new...

Sorting through paper records, emails, or asset records spread across several different spreadsheets or platforms is no longer feasible for a best practice. Trying to keep track of maintenance needs, work requests (such as pole transfers), joint...

People are using more and more data with their various devices. For state and local governments, getting broadband access for their citizens is an important card in the game. However, broadband deployment is being delayed in many areas, in part...

Today’s utility asset data is a vast world of information. Much of it is valuable; some of it is not. Asset owners hold data about many different asset types (utility poles, underground conduit in manholes or vaults, towers, cables, etc.), in...

In January of 2016, there were more than 36,000 double poles in the state of Maryland alone. That was according to a report on utility pole attachments published by the Public Service Commission of Maryland. The report resulted from a workgroup...

One of the most prevalent issues facing utility pole owners is aging pole transfers, but they don’t have to be a constant struggle.

Timely pole transfers rely on clear communications and good relationships between the pole owner and the...

Imagine you are sitting in your home one morning,  enjoying the first cup of coffee and suddely the power goes out. In the dark, you begin to investigate, finding that the utility pole in your yard has fallen over into the street (due to...

When damage to a utility pole is caught early, it can be treated to halt rot, decay or insect damage from further weakening the pole. Poles that are inspected regularly and treated can have significantly longer lives than those that are not....

When a utility pole needs to be replaced, the pole owner will schedule the required equipment transfers. Many utility poles are joint use assets, where several different companies typically have attached equipment on the same pole. This means...

There are many reasons that cause double wood, which is the existence of two poles where only one should be.

Regardless of the cause, double wood represents potential hazards or violations, and a hassle for utility pole owners and municipalities...

What is Joint Use, and How Does It Work?

Imagine a street lined with several sets of utility poles running up both sides, each owned by different companies. One set is owned by an electric utility, another set of poles is owned by a...

Big data is being used in practically every industry today, yet many struggle...

The big data revolution has left many utilities and communications companies scrambling to manage backlogs of stored information. Increasingly, some are finding that data-driven decisions based on old data can be worse than making decisions with...

 The Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning are still in the early stages of what we see as an explosion of development. These two technological trends will be used in tandem to change the way electric utilities and communications...

There is no doubt the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is going to change the way we all do business. Companies, regulators and consumers are eager for a new wave of efficiency and productivity. However, the most valuable asset the IIoT will...

The Internet of Things – and the Industrial Internet of Things – promise significant changes and improvements for asset management and joint use in the years ahead

The information technology revolution is altering the way we communicate with...

 Are aging field assets an urgent crisis, or a manageable long-term maintenance challenge?

Is aging infrastructure an imminent problem that is bearing down on the U.S. utilities industry? Or is it a minor challenge to be addressed over a long...

As tempting as it is to see the start of a new year as a fresh beginning – an opportunity to forge ahead with new resolutions, new plans and exciting new initiatives – it’s also important to take a look back. To consider all that the utility and...

Most asset owners today hold 100 percent of the liability for their field assets, such as utility poles, towers and conduit. As asset owners know all too well, this means they are fully responsible for all of their assets' safety and compliance,...

As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to gain momentum, more and more assets will be connected in the field. Advances in technology mean that internet-aware devices—such as sensors and other data capture technology—are becoming increasingly...

This post is the second in a two-part blog series that explores the potential for joint use field assets to become revenue-generating businesses. Part 1 looks at the first two strategies that include capturing and marketing available space and...

In the past, when companies were regulated entities, they could operate under a cost-plus business model that allowed them to earn profits on top of asset investments. Under this approach, the primary focus was to contain expenses. However, with...

Utility poles have become ubiquitous along the streets and highways in the U.S. over the last century, and that will not change anytime soon. As the number of attachers continues to grow, utility poles have become taller and thicker to support...

This post is part 3 of a three-part blog series about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its impact on infrastructure asset management. To read part 2, go to “3 Ways the Internet of Things Will Change the Future of Infrastructure Asset Management.”

This post is part 2 of a blog series about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its impact on asset management. To read part 1, go to “What Does the Internet of Things Mean for Fixed Asset Management?”

Infrastructure asset management is evolving. In...

If you haven't yet been captivated by the complex and exciting potential of “The Internet of Things,” I imagine you soon will. At its most basic level, the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the ability for any devices to be connected to the...

Joint use issues have made the news lately as incumbent carriers, pole owners, and the “new kids on the block” butt heads. Recent entrants into the market such as Google Fiber are pushing for “One Touch Make Ready” polices. Their argument stems...

With 30 states in the joint use community now required to follow the Federal Communications Commission’s new “One Touch Make Ready” policy, we are taking a look at the impact the policy will have for pole owners and attachers.

Bad weather happens. From the occasional light rain to seemingly increasing instances of extreme weather, tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms, wind, hail and lightning all can wreak havoc on utility poles, lines and equipment.

Utility poles and conduit vaults (the underground version of a wire-carrying 40-foot pole) are everywhere in our world—along highways, down neighborhood streets and under the surface of busy intersections.

They carry power, communications and...

It is evident that everyday life has changed significantly over the past few decades. Twenty years ago, most people could not have imagined we would be carrying around palm-sized devices capable of streaming movies, playing the world’s catalog of...

One of the keys to running a business well is having visible oversight—the high-level, future-focused information that allows for continued success. In joint use, that means reviewing your contracts to ensure they are updated, correct and working...

In the world of joint use, connection and collaboration between pole owners, conduit owners and attaching companies is key. It is inherent in the term: if cooperation was not necessary, it would be called "solitary use." The thing is, it is...

Quick: How long has it been since you thoroughly reviewed your joint use contracts? I'm talking about the joint use agreements you have (for good or ill) with all the owners and attachers for the field assets you own. Last week, right? Good for...

Flashback to the year 1991. George Bush Sr. held the presidency. The Bulls held court in the NBA. When it came to getting down to business, we came to our respective conference tables armed with paper, pens and handshakes. Online docusign...

We have drilled it into your head: double utility poles are a liability. They are a safety issue. They cost money. They drain your joint use department's resources. But what if we ended this series on double wood by telling you that they can also...

We do a lot of talking about double utility poles from a safety perspective for good reason. Leaning or damaged poles left to further deteriorate or simply linger in drivers' line of sight and pedestrians' line of travel are hardly anything to...

You may have noticed the trend on a return visit to that older industrial city you pulled up roots from years ago. The neighborhoods are looking a bit more colorful and lively. On vacation, you may have felt the pull toward a lovely walkable...

Allowing double utility poles to linger in the field comes with a number of costs. The cost of increased liability from potentially damaged equipment that could fail, causing property damage or injury. The direct monetary cost of fines that can...

Call it double wood, double utility poles, or just a double headache for your joint use department, neglecting to remove an old pole when a new one has been installed right next door—or in the attacher's case, transfer off of a pole in a timely...

2016 may be the year of the double utility pole.

Consult your favorite search engine's news section and you will find an increasing number of stories about everyone's (least) favorite double wood situation. Cities are now openly "tired of double...

At Alden, our experts travel all over the country solving infrastructure asset management, data collection, data management and joint use issues for companies of all shapes and sizes. We see a lot of different situations, and as a result, we...

At Alden, our experts travel all over the country solving issues in infrastructure asset management, data collection, data management and joint use for companies of all shapes and sizes. We see a lot of different situations, and as a result, we...

Assessing what's in the field is a key component to asset management. If you do not know what's out there or the current health of those assets today, you are missing vital pieces of information and potentially chunks of revenue. Especially if...

Bootleg attachers are not born—they are made. While the occasional attaching company may be maliciously stealing space on your utility poles, the majority have likely fallen into unauthorized behavior through a variety of situations, from...

Unauthorized attachers and bootlegs, are both common industry terms for companies that attach equipment unpermitted and/or unbeknownst to the owner of the pole it hangs on, or the conduit it resides within. Because these characters are...

For pole owners, attachers are partners: entities that rely on mutual agreement to operate together in one space. However, sometimes things go wrong in the relationship, creating liability for pole owners that were likely never intended.

Let’s discuss something called the butterfly effect for a moment. Aside from being a decently entertaining Ashton Kutcher-led mid-2000s film, it is an actual offshoot of chaos theory that theorizes that, in short, even the smallest action can...

As we have mentioned, the field of service providers—especially jack-of-all-trades businesses who blur the lines between telecommunications, entertainment and broadband internet—is getting a little crowded. Utility poles are now packed with...

In the technology world, it seems that most large companies are busy becoming jacks-of-all-trades. Broadband and cable companies now offer "voice and communication" services (previously known as telephone in our past lives). The search result...

Double wood has long been an unsightly issue for municipalities. Double poles look messy and degrade the look of city streets that residents would rather see clean and orderly. They are unsightly, impede views, clutter landscapes, and can...

We frequently discuss the time and monetary constraints many joint use departments face, often in the context of resource contention. This is an issue that affects many, if not all, of our clients in some way. We have discovered that beyond the...

Picture this: the year is 1966. Lyndon Johnson is President. A box of corn flakes costs a cool 39 cents. Star Trek graces the airwaves for the first time and the Orioles take the Major League pennant. Joint use is a much simpler thing. Parity...

In our everyday lives, as well as in business, the quality of our partnerships often hinges on the personalities involved. People are characters and certain job tasks require particular aptitudes and attitudes. In your best friends, you seek...

Deep in the mines of days past, workers would carry along a small, caged bird on each subterranean trip. Its purpose? To serve as a warning signal. Should dangerous gasses like carbon monoxide build up in the tunnels, the songbird would expire...

When utility pole owners, attaching companies or anyone with a joint use department decide to ask for help, we have found it usually has to do with one big thing: resource contention.

Many joint use departments simply do not have the resources to...

While many unexpected issues can be discovered during utility pole inspections, among the most common is double wood. For whatever reason—incomplete pole transfers, where you have two poles where there should only be one, is not a problem you...

Joint use is, by nature, a bit of a fractured business: it has two distinct sides to its story. On one hand, you have physical assets in the field— utility poles and conduit that require physical attention to install and maintain. On the other...

Moving is never easy. Whether you are talking about packing up and changing zip codes or detaching equipment and moving it to the next utility pole over, there is something uniquely bothersome about the simple act of relocation. In another...

You may have heard the anecdote that moving—picking up your belongings, removing them from one location and depositing them in another—is one of life’s greatest stressors. We would bet this is true—especially when you are talking about utility...

In the past few years, the idea and application of cloud computing has exploded. It almost seems as though we will cease to store important information on our personal devices or keep stacks of external drives gathering dust on our desks. Apps...

With election season in full swing and the appointment of the next leader of the United States a mere six months away, our nation’s attention is tuned to television and social media, dissecting the views and every move of the field of hopefuls....

We are now a month into 2016, and while a lot of resolutions have been made, we know that it is difficult to keep them as the year goes on. January is the proving ground for turning great end-of-year ideas into year-long habits, but if you have...

"Utility poles are like snowflakes: no two are alike." – Barry Wise, Alden Project Manager

The phrase "If you don’t like the weather now, just wait a few minutes" was most likely quipped by Mark Twain, but just about any meteorologist in the country could have uttered it in the past few months. It is the year of the "El Niño" in the...

Happy New Year to the utility and infrastructure asset management world! 2015 gave us lots to say about backlogs and field assessments, NESC violations, and the ever-turning field asset management cycle. 2016 will, we know, pose new challenges....

It has been a banner couple of years for the construction industry. According to the American Institute of Architects, nationally, housing starts passed a million units in 2014 – the first time they have been at that rate since before the bubble...

Regular, thorough field inspections are the best path to complete visibility of the current status and condition of your plant. From pinpointing pole location, verifying asset health and identifying potential unauthorized (bootleg) attachers,...

As business-critical decisions go, when the work gets heavy and resources get thin, this question is often heard: Should we use in-house staff or outsource?

Let's think about business strategy in two ways: proactive and reactive. These behaviors apply in every type of organization, in every market imaginable, but in the world of joint use, knowing the difference—and knowing what type of business you...

Large-scale growth. A boom in the housing market that requires many poles be erected or cable laid. Disaster. Weather. That day when all the utility poles in the field seem to age into maintenance issues at once.

In the world of joint use management, there is always another task on your to-do list. If it is not requests to attach, it is requests to disconnect. If poles do not need maintenance, they need replacement.As you may guess, each of these actions...

As fall’s crisp days begin in most places in the U.S. and the celebratory among us start thinking about overstuffed birds, starchy vegetables, and miles of sweet treats, we have been thinking of a joint use recipe that is very popular year round:

Backlogs – a buildup of overdue and incomplete joint use and other work requests – come in all varieties, from pole transfer backlogs to pileups of permits to attach, from unremedied NESC violations to mountains of detach notices. Think this...

As we previously discussed, it is possible for a company to assume ownership of "bad" utility poles. These "bad" assets are poles that have been decommissioned but are still standing alongside their replacements. This generally happens as a...

If the term "bad poles" sounds ominous, that is because it is—at least in terms of your organization’s appetite for risk. No one wants these unwanted and generally unneeded assets on their books, but your organization may have even assumed...

Pole transfer requests are business as usual for attachers and utility pole owners. A pole is damaged, ages beyond its usefulness or is upgraded from wood to another material. Pole owners move their equipment to a new pole and request attachers...

Pole transfers are an unavoidable part of the joint use universe. This business-as-usual task requires resource allocation, time, thought and consistent record-keeping to keep track of what has been requested, how much time has elapsed, what...

Utility poles are hardly immortal. They age beyond useful life. They rot and are damaged by elements, human activity and nature. Pole owners decide to replace them with structures made of new and different materials, such as swapping a wooden...

Effective field asset management is not a straight line from installation to decommission; it should be viewed as a continuous loop, a cycle of data acquisition, interpretation, and renewal for all your field assets. The question is: Where are...

Effective field asset management is not a straight line from installation to decommission; it should be viewed as a continuous loop, a cycle of data acquisition, interpretation and renewal for all your field assets. The question is: Where are you...

Effective field asset management is not a straight line from installation to decommission; it should be viewed as a continuous loop, a cycle of data acquisition, interpretation, and renewal for all your field assets. The question is: Where are...

Effective field asset management is not a straight line from installation to decommission; it should be viewed as a continuous loop, a cycle of data acquisition, interpretation, and renewal for all your field assets. The question is: Where are...

You buy a brand new utility pole (or many), plan the job and install the poles. These field assets have an estimated life that you can generally count on before they will need to be replaced. On this day, you know that the data about those poles...

Just a little under half of all U.S. states have deregulated energy[1], a construct that allows consumers to shop around for their service provider. The other half, however, are not immune to its influence. Deregulation changed the game for ...

From first sight to final inspection, utility pole inspection is a vital part of successful field asset verification. So what really happens out there during assessment of equipment? In this issue, we finish out the chain of inspection events,...

From first observation to final inspection, utility pole inspection is a vital part of successful field management. So what really happens out there during an equipment assessment? In this post, we talk about line inspections, referencing F, for...

From first sight to final inspection, utility pole inspections are a vital part of successful field asset verification. So what really happens out there during assessment of equipment? Today, we step back and consider a higher-level concern for...

From first sight to final inspection, inventories are a vital part of successful field asset management. So what really happens out there during an equipment assessment? Today, we take a look at another step in the process: Defining Asset...

From first sight to final inspection, utility pole inspections are a vital part of successful field asset verification. So what really happens out there during assessment of equipment? Today, we take a look at the third step: Efficiently capture...

From first sight to final inspection, utility pole inspections are a vital part of successful field asset management. So what really happens during inspection? Today, we take a look at the second step: Behold Up Close.

Now that we are a couple...

From first sight to final inspection a thorough utility pole inventory and inspection is a vital part of successful field asset management. But what actually happens during a utility pole inspection? Today we will discuss the first crucial step: ...

With U.S. infrastructure aging in a big way, utility pole owners will soon be faced with a dilemma: replace or repair a large number of vital assets, or get smart fast with a new take on infrastructure asset management designed to predict when...

From paper and pencil to spreadsheet and mouse, to connected, cloud-based joint use management systems, infrastructure asset management has changed dramatically over the past decade. Change however, is a constant, and as the state of assets and...

Asset verification and management has come a long way since the days of pencil and ledger, but taking the step toward using connected, automated technology to keep track of your valuable assets not only makes things easier, but more...

From first sight to final inspection, a thorough utility pole inventory and inspection is a vital part of successful field asset management. But what goes into a typical NESC inspection of poles in the field? Today, with the help of Alden’s...

While there are many issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune.

While there are many issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. Today, we address a problem that may be number...

While there are dozens of issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This installment, the eighth in an ongoing...

While there are dozens of issues in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often that we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune.

Perhaps the trickiest and most difficult aspect of asset management is bringing order to the human aspect of technician accountability.

A few months back, major media outlets ran a story on the U.S. Government and the loss of millions of dollars of ammunition in Afghanistan.[1] Before your mind goes to all things political on this topic, it is interesting to note that the story...

In everyday life, ESD or electrostatic discharge is a fairly harmless phenomenon. On a cool, dry day you may brush against something, creating a small electric charge that you then discharge with a little arc of electricity and a small, slightly...

Most people probably do not pay much attention to the boxes on the side of the road called remote terminals or RTs. Most probably they do not realize they house equipment and function as important extensions to telco central office locations.

We would probably say that nearly everyone “wins” in the race to connect rural locations to high-speed internet—families, children, schools, small businesses, everyone—but the FCC recently announced the names of 40 entities who will receive a...

While there are many issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This blog is the sixth in an ongoing series...

Wrapping and shipping are a couple of the activities we do not all enjoy. In the CO world, however, these tasks such as packing up and shipping out plugs from CO (central office) to CO, RT to CO or to other facilities within a company’s system, is a...

While there are many of joint use violation issues, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This blog is the fifth in an ongoing series detailing utility...

In  the Pacific Northwest, something interesting is happening in the world of joint use—collaboration, organization and connection that is finding its way across the country with happy copycat behavior state to state. At the center of it all is a...

During inventory in the world of central office (CO), our experts see all kinds of interesting situations regarding plug-in assets and other equipment inside central offices and remote terminals. Thousands of dollars worth of plugs stacked up,...

While there are dozens of issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This article is the fourth in an ongoing...

In the CO (central office) world, as well as elsewhere in the utility and telecommunications universe, there will always be specific pieces of equipment that are considered “critical”—that is, vital to operations and maintaining uninterrupted...

You could say it all started in Kansas City. In 2012, tech giant Google extended the high-speed broadband carrot to all residents of the mid-sized Kansas city, immediately sparking a race to become the second—and third and fourth—metro area to be...

The treated wooden utility pole is the all-star of the joint use world. Straight. Strong. Renewable. Resistant to wind and rain, and when treated, bugs and rot. These common and incredibly valuable assets are the backbone of both businesses and...

Think back to childhood. It is winter and the air is crisp and dry. You put on your thick wool socks, and with all your might, rub your feet back and forth across carpeting in your parents’ living room. You reach out with one tingling finger...

At Alden, we declared November to be “Forget doing it yourself and get help!” month with a series of blogs dedicated to why using third-party administration (TPA) to solve some of your joint use issues might be a good idea. What is third-party...

At Alden, we declared November to be “Forget doing it yourself and get help!” month with a series of blogs dedicated to why using third-party administration (TPA) to solve some of your joint use issues might be a good idea. What is third-party...

At Alden, we are declaring November “Forget doing it yourself and get help!” month with a series of blogs dedicated to why using third-party administration (TPA) to solve some of your joint use issues might be a good idea. What is third-party...

Utility poles come in a variety of materials from metal to concrete to composites such as fiberglass, however, we would like to turn our attention to—and delve into the details of—perhaps the most prevalent type of pole in use today: the treated...

It is Halloween, and here on the Alden Joint Use Communications blog, we are thinking about some scary stuff. Are we having nightmares about zombies? Seeing witches around every corner? Hearing ghosts rustle down the hall? No.

The horrors on our...

Copper: A malleable great conductor of heat and electricity. Its alloys—brass, bronze and gunmetal—are some of the most sought-after materials in manufacturing. In the utility industry, copper is everywhere, grounding equipment to ensure public...

While there are dozens of issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This blog is the second in a series detailing...

While there are dozens of violations recognized and fined under NESC code, there are a few we see so often we consider them violations of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This blog is the second in a series...

While there are dozens of issues and violations in the joint use world, there are a few we see so often we consider them problems of interest: repeat offenses to which no utility pole owner is immune. This blog is the second in a series detailing...

Picture this: Two poles stand where only one should be. You may call it “double wood,” but utility pole owners and municipalities alike call it a danger and a hassle. It even has the potential to be an Ordinance violation.

The removal of double...

In the telecom industry, some equipment is critical to maintaining normal operations. Inside a good deal of that equipment, circuitry packs called “plugs or plug-ins” make up the puzzle pieces that connect our calls and make communication...

At the Alden Updater, we are declaring October utility pole safety month. We actually think this should be every month. In the interest of raising awareness and spurring action toward safer plants and poles everywhere in the U.S., we boldly claim...

Today begins a recurring series on inside plant (ISP) telecommunications industry issues, equipment and central office organization, starting with a primer on one of the most important links in the call chain: the central office itself. Enjoy!

...

Telephone poles are a valuable asset for power utilities, municipalities and telecoms—hundreds to thousands of forty-foot revenue-generating properties. For the most part, poles generally remain under fairly static ownership much of their lives,...

There is little doubt that good inventory management practices are valuable to nearly any business, especially an inventory process that relies on physical equipment to stay operational day to day. Much thought is given to calculating spares or...

Imagine this scenario: your asset inventory is complete. Min/max levels for spare equipment have been calculated, enough critical assets are available and easily locatable on the shelves, equipment for repair has been sent out, and broken and...

As summer turns to fall in the U.S., the days get shorter, things needing completion before the holidays get more urgent, and your laundry list for the year may start to look a little daunting compared to the days left to accomplish it. Was a...

While a thorough, well-executed inventory is good for business in itself, using robust data collection software that is tightly integrated with your company’s asset catalog has a number of benefits. Today, we will discuss six worth giving some...

It is up to 100 times faster than traditional broadband, already available to corporate and institutional customers around the U.S., and is coming to homes in a mid-sized city near you. What is it? Gigabit broadband service. This month,...

In January of 2013, telecom giant AT&T agreed to buy parts of the Alltel cellular network for $780M. In October of the same year, mobile provider T-Mobile USA's parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, agreed to buy rival phone carrier MetroPCS, to...

Among the many benefits of conducting thorough asset inventories regularly is the potential for spare asset recovery. Spare recovery is the "process of maximizing the value of unused or end-of-life assets through effective reuse or divestment."[1]

With warehouses of assets spread over miles of territory, hidden in trucks, closets and buildings in various states of organization, the prospect of completing a thorough inventory of all assets your business owns may feel like a daunting task....

We would like to pause for a moment to celebrate the birthday of one of the most influential forces in the Utility industry: the National Electric Safety Code (NESC). First introduced in August of 1914, the document hits a healthy 100 years in...

In today's economic climate, with efficiency and cost-effectiveness of utmost important, companies are compelled to evaluate the value of every business process in relation to cost. This includes the vital task of inventory. To control asset...

Biking for fitness, wellness and sustainable or "green" commuting is an activity that has swept our nation. It should come as no surprise: one of the oldest methods of mechanical transportation, biking burns about 300 calories per hour if you are...

Now that we have likely convinced you of the benefits of conducting a thorough inventory of all assets and materials, it is time to get your scanning, cataloging and organizing show on the road and conduct your own inventory. Before you do,...

Whether your business calls them min/max levels, safety stock levels, or something else, ensuring you have the right amount of equipment and other assets on hand—just enough, but not too much—is a delicate balance. Keep more than you need and you...

Double wood is an issue we have tackled before. A couple of times, in fact. Double poles, often the result of transfer backlogs, can lead to bigger problems, so we would like to revisit.

Double wood or poles can cause a number of problems and...

The world changes fast. Constant technological shifts mean companies must upgrade equipment regularly to remain competitive and up-to-date with current standards. This is the price of doing business in the mile-a-minute 21^st century, and...

This summer, one Texas co-op is facing $20,000-plus in losses due to the actions of some ingenious thieves. Armed with a homemade device that included standard, consumer-grade limb cutters, more than 85 spans of copper wire were taken from the...

 We discuss utility pole assets often on the Alden Updater. You see them every day while you’re driving, walking, and just going about your business. If you are reading this blog, you may already know a lot about them. So, what are these...

Like a thorough housecleaning for your business, a well-performed inventory sheds light on lost assets, recovers revenue, identifies excess assets and eliminates waste. All this helps your organization to better manage stockpiles of various...

RFID (radio-frequency identification) is wireless, non-contact use of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data,[1] and it may be the most useful technology many people may not be aware of.

The first patent for RFID, as it is...

Imagine each utility pole across the world’s landscape as an individual entity with a position on the earth and a set of circumstances that makes it unique. Now, imagine if each pole could “speak.” What would it say? It depends on the questions...

Valuable assets can hide out anywhere. In that forgotten closet at headquarters, somewhere in the warehouse, in buildings your company has not inventoried in a while, etc. In industries such as telecommunications and utility, along with the many...

We have already discussed the benefits of having a joint use department, but what if your business is too small to truly support a full “department” dedicated to joint use? Outsourcing joint use management to a third party administrator (TPA) may...

Most businesses keep spare equipment and other operationally important items on hand to ensure they are providing services, day after day, month after month without interruption.. Whether stored in warehouses, stashed at corporate headquarters,...

Conducting regular, successful asset inventories is as vital a business function as providing quality service to your customers. As we have mentioned before, your assets are your livelihood, and if you do not know what you have or the value of...

When a business has made the choice to conduct an asset inventory, the organization has a number of important decisions to make: in what format do you want the inventory data returned? How will you update your legacy systems with the new data?...

Everywhere you look, we are more and more connected. Our televisions stream high-definition content into our living rooms. Our gaming devices allow real-time play with competitors around the world. Our music comes from the cloud, not a stack of...

DAS is a hot button topic for some utility pole owners, and a growing issue in the world of joint use. Short for “distributed antenna system”, DAS is a network of antenna nodes often attached to utility poles to provide wireless service to a...

Inventory management likely ranks at the top of people’s lists of stressful activities—and near the bottom in terms of excitement. Regardless of your enthusiasm for finding, coding, logging, organizing and reconciling every piece of spare...

Utility poles are visible, tangible assets—40 feet of hard to forget wood towering above ground. Exposed and often installed in remote areas, it is easy to imagine bootleg attachers finding their way onto them, and creating potential violations...

Navigating the connections, communications, contracts and other complexities that come with joint use asset management may be one of the most intense aspects of owning utility poles and vaults. From enforcing contract details and communication...

We have already given you Five Reasons to Take Control of your Inventory Audit Cycle, but numbers two and three on the list—safety and equipment repair—are so important, they are worth a deeper discussion. Equipment in the field can quickly turn...

Joint use does not exist in a vacuum—there are many other departments and divisions within a typical pole-owning utility or municipality’s operations that rely on accurate, timely information regarding the placement and management of attachments...

Around and around it goes; the inventory audit cycle. Audits rely on you to start them as they do not happen by themselves. If you need a little motivation however, we can help, with five reasons to take control and take action with an inventory...

Think for a moment about joint use contracts. These detail-filled documents are an important part of any utility pole owner’s everyday business, putting into writing the expectations and limitations of relationships with attaching companies....

In April of 2011, the FCC adopted an order that significantly overhauled pole attachment guidelines. Among other things, this directive detailed the specific rights and obligations for pole owners and attachers regarding access, attachment rates...

No utility pole owner relishes the thought of undocumented, unwanted, un-paid bootleg attachments hiding out on their poles. How can an owner combat the problem and collect the rent and fees that are due? Further, how can pole owners stop further...

According to a study conducted in New York State, among 1,134 non-standard conditions discovered during 2,023 utility pole inspections, a full five percent of poles in violation were in the midst of an uncompleted transfer.[1] We have already...

Utility pole real estate is prime property, which is the main reason why pole owners should never suffer space and revenue-wasting bootleg attachers. It is also important to consider abandoned equipment taking up valuable space on poles. Whether...

Being a utility pole owner is complicated; there are a lot of moving—and stationary—parts to keep track of and control. We know that most people have all the best intentions, and work hard to be organized and properly manage their company’s poles...

The utility pole to utility pole attachment transfer process generally goes something like this: A utility pole is damaged, by any number of forces. Dry rot may have impaired its structure. A woodpecker may have made it her home. A car might have...

In the age of streaming video and multi-player online games, the always-on connectivity and speed of broadband Internet at home is becoming the norm for most people in the U.S. Notice we said “most.” According to AOL, more than 2.5 million people...

There is little doubt that a thorough field inventory has its benefits. Taking the time to visually inspect utility poles and create an accurate database of information such as location, age, condition, attachers, repairs made, transfers needed...

The common spreadsheet… for many, it seems the perfect solution for tracking utility pole assets. According to research conducted by Financial Director Magazine, 62% of businesses of responders are currently using spreadsheets as the primary...

Utility poles: Out there in the wilderness and on roadsides they stand, stoically marching through small towns and big cities all over the U.S. They are invisible to most, unsightly to others, but typically out of mind. However, ignoring them can...

The now ubiquitous alternating thick-and-thin lines of the standard barcode first appeared in supermarkets in the early 1960’s, but barcode history reaches back even further. The first patent for a bar code type product was issued to inventors...

When it comes to joint use management, there is a lot to know. From regulatory differences state to state, to the subtleties of contract management, to simply having a good working knowledge of your attachers and their businesses, the management...

As the days lengthen and the sun shines a little more warmly on us, it is time to shake the dust out of our homes, our lives, and even our businesses. That’s right, it is spring cleaning time, and for utility pole owners, that means cleaning house

Today, there are an estimated 134 million utility poles standing tall in the U.S. alone, almost one for every other person in the country.[1] To say that all exist in varying states of repair and disrepair is an understatement. A wide variety of...

When an unknown individual slipped into PG&E’s Metcalf Substation in April 2013 and fired a rifle on transformers causing more than $15 million in damage, many in the utility industry considered it a security game-changer. “It was a pretty big...

A quick update on the local vs. federal issue regarding control over utility pole attachment rate setting, an issue currently being discussed in house legislature sessions across the U.S. Ohio, it seems, has struck a deal that did not require...

They may not be as visible as the typical utility pole, but underground vaults are a vital—and often overlooked—link in the utility service chain.

We may walk over them every day, but it does not pay to neglect them. For example, two major cities...

You may not have heard much about it, but in April of 2013, someone slipped into an underground vault near a busy freeway in California and cut a few telephone cables. Half an hour later, snipers began firing on a nearby electrical substation, ...

A sniper opened fire on a California substation on a dark night in April of 2013, however, the story began sometime earlier in an underground vault, where telephone lines were cut hours before the substation was fired upon. While grid security in...

In the beginning, in the great wide-open spaces of America, there were only limited, analog entertainment options. Television stations sent signals that were picked up by rooftop antennae, pointed toward the metropolitan meccas. Some homes—those...

From Smokey the Bear to OSHA to your own mother, “safety first” is a message we have heard over and over again in our personal and professional lives. In addition, safety, as it pertains to power poles, is a huge deal—health, livelihoods and...

Pencil and paper? Excel spreadsheets? Straight from memory? How do you do joint use management?

What is your process for managing your joint use assets?

Do you have a documented process?

Whether you are responsible for 10 utility poles or...

It is an issue that splits the nation, often straight down party lines: local versus state control. Now, you can count utility pole attachments among the things this polarizing matter affects.

In February of this year, the Missouri House of...

A Google search for “storm damage, power poles” turns up roughly 1.8 million hits. That is a lot of news stories, white papers, and casual mentions of power poles being damaged due to inclement weather. Tally it up, and to fix those broken,...

Accidents involving utility poles happen. Many involve automobiles toppling or breaking poles in crashes — a situation pole owners can mitigate a number of ways— but attachment load and the health of the pole itself can also play a role in...

Today, the world is more data hungry than ever. At the end of 2013, there were more mobile devices than people on earth. Ninety percent of adults now have a mobile device within reach 100 percent of the time. There will be more than seven billion...

The nature—and volume—of pole attachment has evolved immensely over the past 35 years. Pre-1978, space on utility poles was mostly reserved for the power utility and the telecommunications provider for an area. Post-1978, cable companies and...

• What is the pole's location?

• How many companies have equipment attached to the pole?

• ...

Having up-to-date asset inventory data is important for many reasons. Current, accurate data can be used to document ownership, verify your inventory is in working order, and ensure the reliability of your service. Having current inventory data...

Whether you're managing utility poles, underground utilities, or both, you need to keep careful track of your assets, but how do you track data effectively on that much inventory? It's not like a warehouse, wherein you check inventory once a...

The key to efficiently managing your telecommunications company assets and inventory is comprehensive, up-to-date data. Knowledge is power: The more information you have readily accessible, the better you are able to keep track of your assets,...

The joint use of utility poles is a great solution to an important problem. A number of different companies want to place equipment in a certain geographic area to deliver their services to consumers. Power companies, cable companies, cell phone...