AT&T (NYSE: T) has struck a deal with the Park Ridge, Ill., city council to pay the city $2,000 for every remote terminal (RT) cabinet it installs to provide U-verse service to customers, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
The RTs house its VRAD (video remote access device) equipment.
On Tuesday, the city council voted 5-0 in favor of a "landscape agreement" with the telco. If the telco installs all 13 of the boxes it needs to deliver service, the city could get up to $26,000. However, the city has not determined how they would use the funds.
The telco gave the council a list of 13 addresses where it would install the initial VRAD cabinets on Aug. 26. James Maurer, vice president of external affairs for AT&T, said that if it's "technically feasible" they can relocated the cabinets.
Maurer added that AT&T would send a letter to residents if it is going to install a VRAD cabinet near their homes.
A number of city officials and residents still have concerns about where the telco will place the RT cabinets. One resident told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was worried about the placement of one of the boxes near the corner of the alley and Stewart Avenue.
Park Ridge is only one of many cities where the telco has had to address concerns about the placement of RT boxes as it looks to expand U-verse. Similar issues came up in both Greensboro, N.C., San Francisco and more recently in Wheaton, Ill.
Where to place these devices has become a battle between consumers who want an alternative to satellite and incumbent providers such as Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and residents who don't want an obtrusive utility box on their property.
For more:
- Chicago Sun-Times has this article
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