General Right-of-Way (ROW) is needed by a communications company desiring to place fiber optic or copper cable along a given corridor of real estate. In general, communications companies can secure ROW to place cable systems via one of the following ways: Obtain a State Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) and/or State Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) certification.  This should give the new carrier the same rights and privileges to operate and maintain their facilities in the public ROW as any other incumbent utility. Negotiate an agreement for a private easement or ROW occupancy agreement with an entity having controlling interest in a suitable piece of real property or an existing easement or underlying right to the property connecting two or more locations on the carrier's planned route.  Examples of these are easement agreements with private property landowners or more comprehensive agreements with railroads, pipeline operators, highway departments, mass transit systems, underground tunnel systems or aerial transmission lines. It must be noted that obtaining the necessary certifications described in #1 above may not always be the last step to clearing the way for a carrier to place facilities in the public way.  Often there are additional agreements required by local jurisdictions controlling all or part of the planned route.  Some examples are: Municipalities Counties Army Corp. of Engineers State environmental control boards Historical preservation districts In the case of municipalities and counties, a franchise agreement is usually required involving additional recurring or one time payments. A good and creative ROW / site acquisition agent can often produce agreements, such as described in item #2 above, that will save 50-75% of the cost of outside plant construction using the public ROW.

Technixs Right-of-Way Consulting: The customer is in charge, we prepare a needs assessment and review our recommendations with you.  We will do as much as you want including: Staffing, hiring, and training a ROW and/or Site Acquisition Department in your office. Evaluate and effectively train anyone already on your staff Develop policy, process and procedure documentation Provide outsourced ROW and site acquisition agents to do the acquisition for you but under the guidelines the customer has given us.  This reduces your costs and time for getting the project moving - we'll do it all! The Guide: Technixs has produced a Guide for ROW and site acquisition agents to use to successfully search for and negotiate agreements with owners of such rights-of-way. There are other critical ROW and site acquisition decisions which will contribute significantly to the long term performance and maintenance costs of a route, for example: Buried versus aerial cable installation Considerations for rural and urban cable placement Flood plain considerations Contractor / One Call response cost Click on this link to review the Table of Contents of Technixs' Right-of-Way / Site Acquisition Agent Guide (Adobe Acrobat File) If needed, select the link to the left to install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.   To purchase your copy of the ROW / Site Acquisition Agent Guide that you can customize for your business (or we can work with you to do this for you), send an email to info@technixs.com.  Please provide your name, telephone number, and company name as well as any other information that will help us meet your specific needs.