Award Winning Blog

Monday, April 29, 2013

Telephone Pedestals and the Second Amendment

            Once upon a time when telephone companies provided service via wires these companies secured free rights of way to install equipment and lines.  In many locations the companies replaced telephone poles with underground conduits.  When telephone companies needed to splice a service line to a home or business they installed a pedestal above ground.  These metal or plastic pedestals do not have a pleasing appearance even with the use of forest green coloration.  They were necessary splice points where telephone company technicians connected and disconnected service.


            Now that telephone companies want to provide anything but wireline telephone service it strikes me that they should lose the rights of way granted to them by state public utility commissions.  If a company does not provide common carrier telecommunications services, then surely it has no public utility right to take a portion of my property for their use free of charge.  Right?

            I mean if a telephone company no longer wants to serve as the carrier of last resort—or first resort for that matter—then they in effect should be deemed to have abandoned their right to secure a property interest in my land.  As information service providers, like VoIP service providers, former telephone companies no longer should have the right of eminent domain granted by states to bona fide public utilities.   It seems straightforward to me: if a common carrier opts to abandon its common carrier duties, then it should lose its rights of way over private property for lines that no longer provide common carrier services, and possibly won’t provide anything at  all.

            So when my telephone company terminates PSTN service access on my property, they can pull out their copper and by the way be sure to pull out the pedestal while you’re at it.  Oh and by the way, I don’t want to ever see you again on my property.  Going forward you would become a trespasser and I reserve all my Second Amendment rights to brandish a weapon to encourage one of your few information service contractors or employees to leave.

             Gee . . maybe the Tea Party, the National Rifle Association and I have something in common.

6 comments:

David Aylward said...

Love it! Touche, Rob

BK51 said...

Do all of your neighbors agree that they do not want copper pairs to their houses that are served out of the pedestal on your property?

Is everyone served out of that pedestal not subscribed to DSL internet service from the phone company that is brought in by the phone company? Or does everyone use a cable internet provider which has their own pedestal?

Another solution is to remove the pedestals and place telephone poles with aerial drops to your house if you still want a landline or DSL.

I prefer underground facilities - both power and telephone in my neighborhood, but to each his own. After your done with the pedestals, you can start on the power and gas companies and their underground facilities on your property.

BK51 said...

Do all of your neighbors agree that they do not want copper pairs to their houses that are served out of the pedestal on your property?

Is everyone served out of that pedestal not subscribed to DSL internet service from the phone company that is brought in by the phone company? Or does everyone use a cable internet provider which has their own pedestal?

Another solution is to remove the pedestals and place telephone poles with aerial drops to your house if you still want a landline or DSL.

I prefer underground facilities - both power and telephone in my neighborhood, but to each his own. After your done with the pedestals, you can start on the power and gas companies and their underground facilities on your property.

Ben Cramer said...

This post inspired a full policy research paper that I will be presenting at TPRC on September 26. I essentially stole the idea from Rob, but my solution does not involve shooting a guy.

Unknown said...

Frontier communications wants to charge me up to $4000 to move an ugly phone utility pedestal to an underground box even though it should have been installed on the property line not halfway between the driveway and the property line. This prevents me from using the side yard to park a trailer since the box is a permanent obstruction that blocks the way. What if anything can I do about this? help!

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