In yet another tale of a big corporation versus a small town, Verizon has told North Andover, Ma. town leaders that if they want the service provider to remove its unsightly telephone poles from the town's historical downtown area, they're going to have to pay at least half of the bill. With the total cost to remove the poles being $900,000, the small town located in Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley area will have to shell out $450,000.
To pay for their half of the pole removal process, which will begin this July, North Andover city leaders will leverage Community Preservation Act funds. Then, according to an article in the Eagle Tribune, Verizon will reimburse the town over an estimated 5-10 years. Here's the catch. Subscribers, not Verizon, will actually be paying for the pole removal as the service provider will levy a two percent surcharge on wireline telephone accounts to cover the remaining $450,000 it will cost to remove the poles and put them into already built underground conduits.
For more:
- xChange has this article
- Lawrence Eagle Tribune also has this article