METROPOLITAN EXTENSION TELECOMMUNICATIONS V MPSC
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
________________________________________
In re PETITION OF SPRINT
COMMUNICATIONS CO LP.
METROPOLITAN EXTENSION
TELECOMMUNICATIONS RIGHTS-OF-WAY
OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY,
FOR PUBLICATION
December 6, 2007
9:00 a.m.
Appellant,
v
MICHIGAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION,
SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, LP,
TALK AMERICA, INC., XO
COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, INC., TDS
METROCOM, LLC, AT&T MICHIGAN, AT&T
COMMUNICATIONS OF MICHIGAN, INC., and
TCG DETROIT,
Appellees.
No. 274879
Public Service Commission
LC No. 00-014878
Advance Sheets Version
Before: Davis, P.J., and Murphy and Servitto, JJ.
DAVIS, P.J.
The Metropolitan Extension Telecommunications Rights-of-Way Oversight Authority
(METRO Authority) appeals as of right the Public Service Commission's (PSC) determination
that the annual maintenance fee established in the Metropolitan Extension Telecommunications
Rights-of-Way Oversight Act (METRO Act), MCL 484.3101 et seq., applies only to certain
telecommunications facilities owned by telecommunications providers, not to such facilities
leased by providers. We affirm.
This appeal presents a question of pure law; we do not in any way address the factual
background to this matter, which appears to be undisputed in any event. Sprint Communications
Company L.P. is a provider of telecommunications services, and it both owns and leases
telecommunications facilities located in public rights-of-way. The METRO Authority sent to
Sprint an invoice calculating Sprint's maintenance fees on the basis of the facilities owned and
leased by Sprint. Sprint then disputed that invoice. The METRO Authority determined that the
-1-
maintenance fee applied to owned and leased facilities. On review de novo from the METRO
Authority, the PSC overturned that determination, concluding that the maintenance fee applied
only to facilities owned by telecommunications providers. The METRO Authority now appeals
the PSC's determination.
As this case presents an issue of statutory construction, our review is de novo. In re
Michigan Cable Telecom Ass'n Complaint, 239 Mich App 686, 690; 609 NW2d 854 (2000).
Furthermore, subsections of a statutory section "are not to be read discretely, but as part of a
whole." Mayor of Lansing v Pub Service Comm, 470 Mich 154, 167-168; 680 NW2d 840
(2004); see also Apsey v Mem Hosp, 477 Mich 120, 130; 730 NW2d 695 (2007) ("it is a wellsettled rule of law that, when construing a statute, a court must read it as a whole"). We
generally defer to the expertise of the PSC and any of its longstanding constructions of statutes it
is charged with interpreting, but "initial interpretation of new legislation is not entitled to the
same measure of deference as is a longstanding interpretation." In re Michigan Cable Telecom
Ass'n Complaint, supra at 690.
The METRO Authority was established by the METRO Act. It is charged with
"assess[ing] the fees required under this act" and given "the exclusive power to assess fees on
telecommunication providers owning telecommunication facilities in public rights-of-way within
a municipality in a metropolitan area to recover the costs of using the rights-of-way by the
provider." MCL 484.3103(3). The PSC reviews decisions of the METRO Authority de novo.
MCL 484.3117. Contrary to the METRO Authority's urging, we conclude that it would be
unreasonable to give any special deference to the METRO Authority's interpretation of the
statute at issue when reviewing de novo a determination by an agency that is not itself required
to give deference to the METRO Authority. In any event, given that the determinations at issue
were "initial," and given that the outcome of this matter depends more on ordinary principles of
statutory interpretation than on expert analysis of any aspects particular to telecommunications
equipment or the telecommunications industry, the measure of deference ordinarily afforded to
the PSC when reviewing a decision of the METRO Authority is of no practical significance here.
The fee at issue in this case is set forth in MCL 484.3108, which provides in relevant part
as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided by this act, a provider shall pay to the
authority an annual maintenance fee as required under this act.
(2) The authority shall determine for each provider the amount of fees
required under this section. . . .
* * *
(4) Except as otherwise provided under subsection (6), for each year after
the initial period provided for under subsection (3), a provider shall pay the
authority an annual maintenance fee of 5 cents per each linear foot of public rightof-way occupied by the provider's facilities within a metropolitan area.
(5) The fee required under this section is based on the linear feet occupied
by the provider regardless of the quantity or type of the provider's facilities
-2-
utilizing the public right-of-way or whether the facilities are leased to another
provider.
The relevant statutory definition of a "provider" found in MCL 484.3102(k) explicitly includes
owners of "telecommunication facilities located within a public right-of-way," see MCL
484.3102(k)(ii); it does not explicitly include lessees of such facilities, but it also does not
explicitly exclude lessees. At issue is whether the area "occupied" by "the provider's facilities"
contemplates only facilities that are owned by the provider (as the PSC concluded) or whether it
encompasses both facilities that are owned and facilities that are leased by a provider (as the
METRO Authority concluded).
We hold that the plain language of the METRO Act supports the PSC's conclusion. The
text of subsections 8(4) and (5) do not refer to a provider as occupying part of the public right-ofway, but rather to a "provider's facilities" occupying part of a right-of-way. The focus of the fees
at issue is therefore on how many feet of right-of-way the facilities occupy, not how many feet of
facilities are in use by a given provider. MCL 484.3108(5) plainly states that the fee is based on
linear feet occupied by the facilities in the right-of-way, not on the linear feet of facilities
utilized. In addition, the METRO Authority's grant of exclusive authority to assess fees is
limited to "telecommunication providers owning telecommunication facilities in public rights-ofway." MCL 484.3103(3) (emphasis added). In MCL 484.3108(7) through (9), explicit
references are made to facilities "owned" by providers, and those subsections appear to treat "the
provider's facilities" as essentially synonymous with facilities "owned" by those providers. With
two specific exceptions that do not apply here,1 leasing of facilities is not otherwise discussed in
the METRO Act.
In short, we conclude that the maintenance fee imposed by the METRO Act is based on
linear feet of telecommunications facilities occupying public rights-of-way, and the duty to pay
the fee falls on the owner of those facilities, irrespective of whether the owner is utilizing or
leasing those facilities. Although we note that there is no reason why the owner cannot pass the
cost of the fee on to lessees as part of the lease, the maintenance fee is not assessed on the
lessees. The Public Service Commission correctly interpreted the relevant portions of the statute.
Affirmed.
/s/ Alton T. Davis
/s/ William B. Murphy
/s/ Deborah A. Servitto
1
MCL 484.3108(19) and (20) provide for a broad exclusion of certain entities from the duty to
pay fees required by the METRO Act, but also specify that those entities must pay the fees
required by the act for "facilities leased or otherwise provided to an unaffiliated
telecommunication provider." Even under these circumstances, responsibility for payment falls
on the owner, and we note that this would be irrelevant if lessees were to pay the fees
themselves.
-3-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.