PA 48 is the result of a collaborative agreement between municipalities and providers.  The Act allows the METRO Authority, on behalf of municipalities, to recover the costs of such rights-of-way use by the providers.  It gives the METRO Authority the responsibilities to coordinate public right-of-way matters with municipalities, to assess fees on telecommunication providers with facilities in public rights-of-way within a municipality in a metropolitan area, and to make payments to municipalities that have "opted in".  Currently, 100% of fees assessed on providers are paid out to municipalities. In 2009, fees invoiced and collected from providers exceeded $21 million.

The purpose of the act is to:

• Encourage competition in the availability, prices, terms, and other conditions of providing telecommunication services
• Encourage the introduction of new services, the entry of new providers, the development of new technologies, and increase investment in the telecommunication infrastructure in Michigan
• Improve the opportunities for economic development and the delivery of telecommunication services
• Streamline the process for authorizing access to and use of public rights-of-way by telecommunication providers
• Ensure the reasonable control and management of public rights-of-way by municipalities within Michigan
• Provide for a common public rights-of-way maintenance fee applicable to telecommunication providers
• Ensure effective review and disposition of disputes under the act
• Allow for a tax credit for providers to recover the costs under the act (and ensure that providers do not pass costs on to end-users through rates and charges for telecommunication services)
• Create an authority (METRO) to coordinate public right-of-way matters with municipalities