Finding hidden revenue from Joint Use
For electric utilities and cooperatives, Joint Use is an established part of operating an overhead network. Telecommunications providers, broadband operators and other third parties rely on utility-owned poles to support their infrastructure.
But do your contracts, records and revenue accurately reflect what’s actually attached to those poles?
Joint Use agreements can provide utilities with legitimate revenue from existing assets. Yet outdated agreements, incomplete attachment records and unauthorized attachments can mean some of that opportunity is overlooked.
Effective Joint Use management starts with some relatively simple questions.
- Do you know what is attached to your poles?
- Do your records accurately identify who owns each attachment?
- Are the attachments covered by current agreements?
- Are the appropriate rental and other fees being collected?
And does the information held in your systems accurately reflect what is actually installed in the field?
From contracts to the pole
Joint Use agreements establish the commercial and operational framework between pole owners and attachers. Maintaining that framework requires more than having a contract on file.
Agreements need to remain current. New attachments need to be recorded. Rental charges may need to be adjusted. Pole replacement and removal costs need to be allocated appropriately. Unauthorized attachments need to be identified and managed.
The quality of the underlying asset information therefore matters.
A contract can establish what should happen. An effective audit establishes what is actually happening across the network.
Building an objective record
Historically, collecting detailed information about overhead assets could be a relatively labor-intensive field exercise.
New measurement technology is changing that.
Mobile field tools such as Axonic can capture measurements and observations directly against the pole and span, including:
- attachment heights
- equipment heights
- pole dimensions and geometry
- pole lean and deflection
- conductor and communications infrastructure
- span and turn-off angles
- sag and clearance information
- asset condition and defects
This creates an objective digital record that can support Joint Use audits while also providing useful information for engineering, inspection and asset management.
The opportunity is not simply to digitize a paper inspection form. It is to capture structured field evidence that can be reviewed, audited and incorporated into downstream workflows.
Revenue is only part of the equation
Accurate Joint Use information can support the identification of attachments that are missing from existing records and help pole owners ensure appropriate contractual charges are being applied.
But there are broader benefits.
Knowing what is physically installed on a pole supports better assessment of clearance, loading, condition and compliance. It provides evidence when discrepancies need to be investigated. And it gives utilities a more defensible record of what was observed, where and when.
That creates a common thread between commercial management, engineering and safety.
The same field visit that establishes who is attached to a pole can contribute useful information about the condition and configuration of the asset itself.
Creating an auditable Joint Use workflow
The objective should be a connected process:
Each stage reinforces the others.
Contract reviews establish the rules and responsibilities.
Field inspections establish what exists.
Technology provides repeatable measurements and supporting evidence.
Audits identify discrepancies.
Commercial workflows address missing or incorrect charges identified through field information.
Billing can now be carried out based on accurate information, to recover the hidden revenue from your utility pole fleet.
And the resulting data improves the asset record for the next inspection and billing cycle.
Working with Utility Asset Management
InnerView Insights works with Utility Asset Management (UAM) in North America to combine utility industry experience with modern inspection and measurement technology.
UAM provides Joint Use contract review, pole attachment auditing and inspection services, helping utilities and cooperatives understand both their contractual position and the reality of the assets installed across their networks.
Axonic complements these services by enabling structured, objective field measurement and digital data capture.
Together, the focus is straightforward: better information, greater accountability and more auditable decisions across the Joint Use lifecycle.
For utilities reviewing their Joint Use arrangements, the starting point may be surprisingly simple:
Do your contracts, records and revenue accurately reflect what is actually attached to your poles?
Get in touch with InnerView Insights or our partners UAM to learn more.
