METRO Act permits

In 2001, the METRO (Metropolitan Extention Telecommunication Rights-of-Way Oversight) Authority was created and the Act required that telecom providers obtain a permit from municipalities to use rights of way and also to pay fees for use of the rights of way.  The legislature and MPSC approved the form of the permit.  Now phone companies are changing the terms of the METRO Act permits they send municipalities from the MPSC approved form. These changes impose costs on municipalities and decrease protections to municipalities.  To combat this, we recommend that municipalities issue METRO Act permits in the form approved by the legislature and the MPSC. You can download a METRO Act permit from the MPSC's website and issue it in that form.  Do not use the permit form submitted by the phone company as it is increasingly differing from the MPSC approved form.