Telecom rollouts raise ire over utility boxes

Van

SatelliteGuys Master
Original poster
Jul 8, 2004
9,325
9
Virginia Beach
Welcome to Charter.net - News


Telecom rollouts raise ire over utility boxes
Friday, August 22, 2008 11:27 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By DEBORAH YAO AP Business Writer


PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The road to advanced video, Internet and phone services is bumpy — and the bumps can be almost as big as refrigerators.

As cable and phone companies race to upgrade services or offer video for the first time, they're doing it by installing equipment in boxes on lawns, easements and curbs all over American neighborhoods. Telecommunications rollouts have always been messy, but several towns and residents are fighting back with cries of "Not in my front yard!"

AT&T Inc.'s nearly fridge-sized units, which route its new U-verse video product to customers, are drawing particular ire. A few caught fire or even exploded. AT&T said it has fixed that by replacing the units' backup batteries.

That's not much comfort to David Crommie, who thinks the boxes are an eyesore. Crommie, who is president of a San Francisco neighborhood group called the Cole Valley Improvement Association, complained after seeing some boxes sprout in town and managed to delay AT&T's plans to install up to 850. AT&T now is expected to reapply for an exemption to the city's environmental-review procedures.

"We have nothing against the technology. We just don't want that delivery system," Crommie said. "It's 19th century packaging for 21st century technology."

AT&T's rival Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company, apparently thought so too. It ran ads in Illinois calling the cabinets "giant utility boxes." In most locations, U-verse cabinets are 4 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep.



Well if you want the best now you gotta deal with the fallout
 
I love it when the cable co mounts those big oversized battery pack boxes on a pole having to climb over them. Something real nice to break my fall.

Wonder how far they can get in between distance on one of those cabinets...
 

Anyone Watching 49ers and Bears on Fox hd??

Apartment Cable Junction Box

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)