Overall, property owners and developers who are building on their land call Electric Lightwave because they want fiber optic installed. Fiber-optic lines make a building more marketable, allowing a higher bandwidth telecom system to be installed. A small percentage of developers are trying to assess fees. He said telecom companies use a variety of ways to make needed connections. Besides going it alone, some groups of companies partner up to install lines through abandoned fuel lines or build new underground ducts.
Companies also can swap fiber optic lines using leases.
Meanwhile, the appraisal industry is clamoring for public disclosure about transactions for rights of way, so land values can be appropriately measured for just compensation to property owners. There are a lot of rights of way transactions that don't see the light of day. Bucaria, who organized a Sacramento-area workshop on the market value of rights of way in telecommunications corridors last month, said property owners used to donate land for phone companies to install lines, because it was a luxury for rural communities to get telephone service. Two years ago, the California Public Utilities Commission started getting reports of telecom companies abusing power of eminent domain to negotiate deals. While companies were required to get appraisals for condemnation, Kuhs said many of those requirements were overlooked or misunderstood.