Utility box clamor

There is an ugly side to the future of communication in Sonoma County, and for some Santa Rosa residents it is already located on their front yards.

Large utility boxes are being placed on residential properties across Santa Rosa as AT&T rolls out its next-generation TV and Internet services.

AT&T plans similar construction for other cities in Sonoma County including Petaluma, Cotati and Rohnert Park.

Rival Comcast, meanwhile, has drawn complaints while digging up streets and neighborhood yards to replace its antiquated cable network in Santa Rosa.

AT&T and Comcast are both building next-generation networks that provide faster Internet, digital phone lines and competing TV services. The competition is expected to lower prices and stimulate innovation, according to analysts.

But the downside to these sleek technologies is the construction and hardware required to bring the latest offerings to tech-hungry customers.

Roadways and lawns must be torn up to accommodate the next-gen infrastructure. These projects, which are taking place across the nation, are not always welcomed. One city in Illinois even tried unsuccessfully to block AT&T from installing the large boxes due, in part, to aesthetic reasons.

For Santa Rosa resident Kerrilyn Scott, the shock of seeing a 13-foot-long hole in her front yard was too much.

"When I saw the hole, I actually got a bit tearful," Scott said. "I would understand if these were traditional utility services. But these are offerings that seem more like luxury features than basic utilities."

Last June, AT&T notified Scott it planned to install a refrigerator-sized box on a utility easement along the front of her property. Such easements are set aside for utility companies to use. The box will allow AT&T to provide 300 to 400 of her neighbors with TV and high-speed Internet service.

AT&T's notification included an illustration of what the installed box would look like. But Scott said she was never updated when the project grew in size to include a second box and a retaining wall dug into her hillside.

The scope of the project caught her by surprise when she drove home after work one day in November and discovered a gaping construction pit.

As she investigated her property rights, she discovered AT&T had dug too far and gone about two feet farther into her yard than allowed. She got the construction stopped.

City officials and AT&T representatives have been working with Scott to address her concerns, and they stress her experience is an isolated incident.

"We are trying to do everything we can to make this right with the resident," said AT&T spokesman Gordon Diamond. "But understand this is the only complaint we've had of the 98 boxes we've started construction on."

Gordon said the company did not plan any additional compensation other than filling the portion of her hillside mistakenly dug up and replanting vegetation. AT&T still plans to install one or two service boxes at the location.

The company is meeting with Scott and the city next week to discuss efforts to mitigate the visual impact of the box and retaining wall.

Scott says the city has been extremely helpful in her negotiations with AT&T.

"The city has been advocating for us," she said. "But I don't think they can stop AT&T. It's a state-level thing."

The state Legislature removed cities' powers to negotiate TV service franchises in 2006 when it passed the Digital Infrastructure and Cable Competition Act. That power was given to the state to streamline the deployment of new video technology. In the process, cities lost some leverage in dealing directly with cable TV and telephone companies.

"The utility companies have fairly broad rights to put what they want there," said Eric McHenry, the city's chief technology officer.

But McHenry quickly added, "There have been a couple of sites where we said we didn't want boxes, and they didn't put them there."

Overall, the deployments by Comcast and AT&T have gone smoothly, McHenry said. He characterized the situation with Scott as a "mistake" by AT&T. But he said it was not representative of the overall deployment effort.

"Residents have not had issues with the boxes that were put up prior to this," he said.

AT&T said construction had begun in Santa Rosa on 98 of about 130 box sites -- with 80 of those sites already finished.

Comcast has also run into problems while updating its antiquated cable wiring in Santa Rosa. It broke a sewer line and has drawn the ire of some city residents who complain about the unsightliness of construction work in their neighborhoods.

"Any time work is being done in the right-of-way there are going to be unintended consequences," said Andrew Johnson, spokesman for Comcast. "But these are isolated incidents. Things usually go along fairly well."

AT&T's large utility boxes, which function as fiber optic hubs, cannot be buried underground because of the need for heat ventilation. AT&T's technology requires larger boxes because it must rely on copper wires to connect its fiber optic hubs into the home. These wires, which were designed for telephone service, carry less data than coaxial cables used by Comcast.

Scott said she is resigned to live with the box in her front yard, but encourages other homeowners to closely monitor construction on their own property.

"I feel like other community members should be better informed," she said. "Even if AT&T just changes its initial letter to be more detailed, or includes periodic updates, that would be a positive outcome."

You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.