State research record

Montana pole attachment rules, in writing and dated.

Who regulates the pole you are attaching to in Montana, what rate standard applies, where a dispute actually goes and whether cooperative and municipal poles are covered. This is the record we work from, published so you can read it yourself.

Record dated September 15, 2026 · not certified under Section 224(c) · 6 authorities cited
The record

Montana

MontanaMT

Not certified under Section 224(c)Record dated September 15, 2026
Cooperative poles
No. A rural electric cooperative is exempt in all respects from the jurisdiction and control of the Montana Public Service Commission under MCA 35-18-104, and is outside 47 U.S.C. 224 as well, so the rate on a cooperative pole is whatever the attachment contract says.
Municipal poles
No. A municipality regulates, establishes and changes its own utility rates under MCA 69-7-101, and Montana has enacted no pole attachment regime that could reach a municipal pole.
Rate standard
The FCC cable formula under 47 U.S.C. 224(d) and the telecommunications formula under 224(e), as implemented in 47 CFR Part 1 Subpart J, applying directly and with no state overlay because Montana has not certified.
Where a dispute goes
The Federal Communications Commission, by pole attachment complaint under 47 CFR Part 1 Subpart J. There is no Montana Public Service Commission pole attachment forum.
Confidence
High confidence on non-certification, the federal forum, the cooperative exemption and the municipal exclusion

Authorities47 U.S.C. 224(d)47 U.S.C. 224(e)47 CFR 1.1401 to 1.1415MCA 35-18-104MCA 69-7-101DA 22-630

Read the chip above as one fact and no more: whether Montana has certified under Section 224(c) that it regulates pole attachments itself. It does not settle your pole. Cooperative and municipal poles sit outside federal jurisdiction whether or not a state has certified, so the two owner class lines are the ones that answer the question for the invoice in front of you.

This record is worked from the statute and the order that made it rather than from a summary of one. The confidence line is tied to its source: where a conclusion rests on weaker ground the record says so, because a hedge you can see is what makes the confident answers worth believing. The method is set out in how PoleProof researches and verifies, and how a cleared rule enters an audit is on the methodology page.

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Scope

How to use this, and how to check it

Every conclusion above names the authority it rests on, so you can go read that authority and decide whether you agree. That is the point of publishing the record rather than asserting the result.

This is general information about the rules and it is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for your own counsel on a specific dispute. PoleProof is not a law firm. PoleProof performs financial and cost review of what you have been billed rather than engineering evaluation of what the pole owner determined was necessary. Rules change, and this record carries the date it was worked so you can see how current it is.

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