Citizens in North Carolina and Indiana are petitioning their local governments to stop AT&T's from installing large Video Ready Access boxes for its U-Verse service in their neighborhoods. The citizens claim the boxes are noisy and unsightly, and that the installation process creates a mess. David and Wendy Hostetler, of Belmont, N.C., hired lawyer Jim Windham to argue that the box installation would detract from the historic quality of the neighborhood. AT&T stopped installation on that box, according to the Hostetlers. The Belmont Public Works Committee will explore the U-Verse installation at a meeting this week.
In a separate incident, the Evanston City Council (Ind.) voted to issue a statement to AT&T to ask the telco to cease installations of the boxes in the city until it could form an oversight committee. Evanston residents had complained about the noise and prominent size of the boxes.
AT&T said there is little it can do about the boxes placement, as they must be within 300 to 500 ft. of a crossbox.
"You can't put this on the outskirts of town," AT&T spokesperson Todd Lantham, told the Belmont City Council.
AT&T has run into problems in other areas of the country with the U-Verse deployments as well, with citizens protesting the size and placement of the boxes.
For more:
- see the Banner Press article about the Belmont situation here
- see the Evanston Review article here
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