New Verizon Boxes Appear on Old Poles: Wave of the
Future - or Unsightly, Unsafe and Unpaid For?
by Judy Silberstein
(September 30, 2004) Beginning in late August, telephone
poles throughout the Town of Mamaroneck and Village of
Larchmont
began sporting
new, large, street-level metal lockers, known as "cross
boxes" by the technicians. Big deal? Verizon’s
corporate office didn’t
think so, but their field techs are extremely excited and
local officials and some residents are outraged.
A new street-level cross
box on Elm "crosses" between
Verizon's underground and aerial cables. |
The official
Verizon position is subdued. According to Verizon spokesperson
Dan D. Zapata, the new equipment will
be used “to manage and increase the capacity of our
network.”
“It’s important equipment that needs to be installed
to continue to provide service,” he said, but even
when pressed would not provide further information about
what was going into all those new boxes.
The Verizon field technicians that are busily employed all
over the Village were not so reticent. They are extremely
excited about the new technology, which they described as
a step in replacing the old copper wiring with new fiber
optics that will allow Verizon to supply homes with multiple
phone lines, high speed Internet access
and television all via one wire from the pole to the home. “It’s
cutting edge,” said one field tech working on Larchmont
Avenue.
Local officials are also extremely excited – but their
reaction is more outrage than enthusiasm. Their concern is
for safety, aesthetics – and the possibility that Verizon
may be installing new capabilities that subject providers
to franchise fees negotiated through the tri-municipal Cable
Board of Control.
“I’m bloody infuriated,” said Larchmont
Mayor Ken Bialo, who spotted the first boxes in the Manor
on August 28 and immediately blasted out an e-mail to his
board and fellow officials in the Town and Village
of Mamaroneck.
“Here we are working to improve our looks and our
safety, and these guys plop down these giant boxes that are
not only unsightly and slovenly but unsafe in their locations,” he
stated.
“How outrageous,” was his conclusion, particularly
since Verizon provided no prior notice of their plans.
“They‘re really bad, said Town Supervisor Valerie
O’Keeffe. “I’ve already complained about
them.”
Local officials, though, have only so much control over
the telephone poles. As Mr. Zapata pointed out, the work
is being
done
in the “right of way,” on land where utilities
are not required to have permits or permissions
from the municipalities.
“The boxes are installed in locations based on two
important criteria: ensuring our technicians have safe access
to our equipment and public safety," said Mr. Zapata. “Where
residents and communities have concerns, we will listen to
them and are willing to work with them to ensure that their
concerns are heard while simultaneously addressing the needs
of our business.”
Verizon did listen to recall concerns this week. Marco Gennarelli,
Town Superintendent of Highways, sat down with a number of
Verizon
engineers, who
agreed
to raise four or five of the boxes identified as particularly
unsafe in their locations.
“That doesn’t satisfy me, there are still plenty
of others that are near the streets,” said Supervisor
O’Keeffe. “Any child could fall into them," she
said and pointed out that a number of the boxes are close
to sidewalks and near Murray Avenue School.
Mayor Bialo is not satisfied either and, along with his
fellow municipal leaders, will be writing to Verizon’s
top management. On advice of counsel for the Cable Board
of Control, attorney Joseph Van Eaten, the following demands
will be made:
- Stop installing the boxes;
- Talk with the municipalities
about making the boxes more safe and less unsightly;
and
- If the boxes are designed to carry cable television,
Verizon must have a cable television franchise.
Cablevision,
for
example, pays a franchise fee that supports the operation
of LMC-TV in return for the right
to sell cable television service to local residents.
According to the field staff, Verizon may be rolling out
new services in Westchester as early as January 2005 as part
of an ambitious plan that will ultimately switch all its
outside plants to fiber optics. “Larchmont is one of
the first communities in Westchester,” said one technician
working amidst a convoy of trucks parked on Elm Avenue. Verizon
selected Larchmont based on the large number of residents
who already purchase cable-based Internet service – from
competitor Cablevision.
“People are anxious for the service,” said another
worker, “particularly people from areas with poor copper
service – for example, Nancy and Garit Lanes (off of
Palmer Avenue).”
“Fiber optics – they’re the future,” he
said. That may be, but before the future arrives, Verizon
and municipal officials are likely to be engaging in some
old-fashioned communication to smooth out what new equipment
will be going where – and at what cost.
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