Joey Garrison

jgarrison@tennessean.com

As the Metro Council prepares to give final consideration Tuesday night on the controversial One Touch Make Ready bill, Google Fiber is now promising to share its in-house attorneys to help Metro fight a likely lawsuit from AT&T.

Executives from AT&T, which sued Louisville, Ky. earlier this year over similar legislation, have made it clear that the Metro government should expect a lawsuit if the council approves the pending legislation.

“Google Fiber is disappointed that AT&T has threatened to go to court in an effort to block Nashville’s efforts to increase broadband competition should the OTMR ordinance pass,” Fleur Knowlsey, senior counsel of Alphabet’s Access group, which manages Google Fiber, wrote in an email to the council on Monday.

“We believe the city's commonsense initiative will be upheld in the face of any litigation. We know, however, that litigation can be challenging and expensive. In the event of OTMR litigation, Google Fiber will therefore be glad to share the capabilities of its in-house and outside attorneys, including some of the most experienced and accomplished regulatory attorneys in the industry.”

Knowsley did not indicate how many in-house attorneys Google Fiber would offer, nor how much it might save Metro in legal fees.

Google’s commitment comes as some council members have expressed concerns over the potential cost to Metro to litigate a lawsuit.

Metro Department of Law Director Jon Cooper has said he’s “100 percent sure” approval of One Touch Make Ready will result in a lawsuit against Metro.

Google has said its rollout into Nashville has been delayed because of Metro’s current utility pole law whereby existing providers AT&T and Comcast must move their own lines before a new provider can add another cable.

The proposed ordinance would give Google Fiber, or any other provider seeking to add a line, the ability to hire an approved vendor to move all the lines at the same time.

In its Louisville lawsuit and during debate in Nashville, AT&T has has argued that the Federal Communications Commission – not cities – have the power to regulate privately-owned AT&T utility poles. From the beginning, the company has said Nashville lacks the authority to implement the ordinance Google Fiber covets.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.