Bugged about the AT&T boxes?
AT&T has been installing big boxes on Evanston parkways for several months now.
Junad Rizki sent along this picture of boxes installed just north of the main entrance to Haven Middle School on Prairie Avenue (that's his pet stuffed pig sitting on top of the box in the foreground) and he suggested an informal contest to identify the most obnoxiously-placed boxes in town.
The boxes are designed to make it possible for the phone company to offer video service in competition with Comcast cable and beef up its high-speed internet and voice-over internet offerings.
When we checked the AT&T U-verse site, it appeared the service has not been turned on yet for Evanston, although the company announced its roll-out for northestern Illinois in late January.
The city published a list of box locations a few months back.
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AT&T Violation with U-Verse Placement
This problem of U-Verse boxes is huge. We live in Louisiana and took it to a whole new level with AT&T. In their cocky attempt to shut us down (when we protested the box that showed up in our front yard), they ordered a property survey! The results are in. They placed the box beyond the servitude into our yard!!! I wonder how many people this has happened to???
WONDERFUL - Thank You for SHARING!
This was a fantastic share, Sandy! Finally, the little guy (gal) scores a point against the behemoth corporation! You go, Girl!
As an aside, as much as I would love to lower my bill for cable/phone/internet, I refuse to do so at the expense of my Evanston neighbors who have had one of the unsightly boxes placed in front of their home. Seriously, how important is TV anyway? Everytime I turn it on, I'm invariably inviting some talking head pundit into my home that I wouldn't give the time of day to if I met him/her on the street. As for movies and shows? I lose IQ points everytime I see a preview for another American Idol or other reality show. TCM, PBS and HBO are the only reason I have for paying this ridiculous bill... and even HBO is getting questionable. Our beautiful Evanston Library is a much better tool of entertainment!
When will U-verse go live in
When will U-verse go live in Evanston? The boxes are here, but where is the service???
U-verse... I have
Not sure what part of Evanston you live, but we have it and have been using it since early this Spring.
We are in the Main/Ridge neighborhood.
It's Alive!
and works well near Lincoln School/Main Street area.
Evanston is not posting AT&T's adjusted VRAD locations
The VRAD location map the city has on its site is a year old, and has not been not updated. Meanwhile, AT&T has been adjusting and amending some of the locations in the past year.
On top of that, Evanston city officials have not provided a location map of the new locations of crossboxes. For every new VRAD box - so far 97 - there has to be a nearby crossbox. So, in some cases, AT&T has to install a new crossbox to accompany a VRAD box.
So, if you're a homeowner and you looked on that VRAD map on the city site, and did not see a dot in front of your home, it doesn't mean you're in the clear. What's worse, not only has the city failed to update its VRAD location map but it has not provided the public a crossbox location map.
It is unconscionable for AT&T to place a box in front of any home, and they have in a few cases. It's even worse when our local and state government appears behind on this issue. The public has been ill-served.
In my short research, I have discovered that AT&T does have the ability to bury the lines rather than install unsightly boxes, and I think they should do that especially when they place a VRAD or crossbox in IN FRONT OF A HOME or near a school. It not only affects the value of that home but other homes nearby.
It's not enough for the city to temporarily halt box installations to review the process, raising questions as to how much it has been on top of this, but the city should have at the beginning required AT&T to use alternative methods such as burying lines in some locations where asthetics and safety become an issue. How safe are these new chunky and humming boxes at Lincolnwood, Kingsley and Haven schools where hundreds of kids pass by everyday, for example?
With probably more than a hundred of these new boxes dotting the residential landscape of Evanston, the public, at a minimum, has every right to know EXACTLY where they will be installed BEFORE they are installed.
Someone needs to do a Freedom of Information Act to get the updated VRAD and crossbox permits, and inform the public where those adjusted locations are or will be.
It would be interesting to know how accurate the city's OLD VRAD location map really is.
FOIA
"Someone needs to do a Freedom of Information Act..."
That "someone" is YOU, Al!
Stop the Box Group?
Is there an active "Stop the Box" Group? If, so who do I contact to get involved? There is a plan on the table to put a box across the street from my house--next to an elementary school. I got no official notice of this, only heard it through the neighborhood grapevine. I realize there is a current moratorium (probably too strong a word) on new permits, but the more I see the boxes the more I want to enter the fray personally.
Reply:
Stop the Box has a website at stopthebox.org
-- Bill
All I can say is these things are UGLY!!!
Over the past few months I have been getting more disgusted with these boxes popping up in Evanston... I say "these boxes" because I never knew what they were until I decided to research them today and found this forum. Although I thought they were dreadfully ugly, I didn't hate them because I assumed they were needed for some essential service - now that I find out what they are for I am shocked.
Ironically, I have a marketing letter from ATT on my "to do" pile; they were offering an ISP rate that was lower than Comcast -- now there is one fewer thing on my to do pile. I will not switch my service to ATT (I use Comcast) because there is no way that I will spend a penny of my money to legitimize these boxes.
Man are they UGLY!!!
This is not a NIMBY issue because there are none in my backyard (or i guess i should say none in any easement near me). The closest one I am aware of is about 3 blocks away.
This Saturday I walked from my house in SW Evanston to the Lake at Main Street... I passed at least three of these boxes. Here is a pic of one on Main St: http://tinyurl.com/awrzch
One last note.... I read the comment about graffiti on the boxes near Haven MS and how much it may cost to have the city remove graffiti from the boxes --- I am VERY much a proponent of having graffiti removed immediately but these boxes are so ugly to start with that I am not sure if is possible for graffiti to "deface" them.
It is probably too late to do anything about this now but I feel it was a huge mistake and I hope nothing like this happens again... I guess I should have been more aware of local news and maybe I would have had a chance to stop it in the first place.
An Idea...For What It's Worth
Taking a cue from the snowplow project, why don't we pick a theme and then let school kids from around Evanston paint these monsters--or at least the visible ones? I'll donate some paint and some supervision. Some artistic (or not) talent will at least lessen my urge to ram into them, over and over again, with my car...
BTW, I fired AT&T a LONG time ago and when they come to my door, I let them know they aren't welcome on my property and why. It seems to have worked, because they don't bother me any more.
Aesthetics vs. Service/Competitive Data Market
I can't help but notice that most of the comments seem to focus on the aesthetics of the AT&T boxes. They could be ugly as sin (and they're NOT) and I wouldn't care - it's about time Comcast got competition. Competition means we, the consumers, save money, get options, and, hopefully, better service from whomever we choose to provide said service.
The AT&T boxes are new and different, but at some point, everything was new and different - traffic lights, lamp posts, signage. We get used to it and move on. There's a bigger picture here and "those ugly boxes" ain't it.
Pointing the finger at the boxes
Missing in all the pros and cons over the ATT Uverse boxes is questioning how they received approval, The boxes were approved at least a year prior to their initial installation with little, if any, public notice. We do not have a cable commission with citizen members, Skokie does. (Do not confuse this with CMC) There was an ad hoc commission a decade or so earlier when there was a franchise transfer and that was disbanded quickly once the transfer was made.
Also lost in all of this, is that with the transition to digital, PEG channels will be dumped into channel 99, without program guide or recording capability, amidst PEG channels from many communities. Good luck trying to watch anything on those channels. It will be an effort -- and ATT gets spectrum to shove at least 40 more channels of Shamwop and Billy Mae commercials at you.
The boxes are where they are because it is a cost cutting measure for ATT. There is fiber to the boxes with large bandwidth. The connection to the home is twisted pair and effectively low bandwidth, as with DSL. There may or may not be a pole attachment fee. Does anyone know? Is there a franchise fee? In other areas Verizon is installing a TV system, but it is fiber to the home with enormous bandwidth and will be capable of new services that Uverse will not be able to have. It will offer real competition to entrenched cable services.
The real issue is why there was not public notice, awareness or discussion prior to approval. This is the same lack of concern that creates "pipelines" and smacks of desperation by a city administration that is financially in the hole, and grasping at anything, be it spires or shovel ready.
Boxes (cont.)
I have been informed that the state legislature created legislation that approved the boxes and overrode any municipal ability to decide on the boxes.
The issue remains. Where were our city staff and Council members? Were they aware or contacted? Did Hamos or anyone else have a role in this?
Why was this not brought to the citizen's attention?
Getting used to AT&T Boxes?
Since you are so pro-box, maybe you should consider offering up your easement to spare someone who is against one on theirs.
Gladly
I rent, but I did check - there will be a box right on my corner. I'm excited about it. And if I did own, I would gladly offer up my easement if I thought it would work that way.
Hooray for AT&T boxes
"Since you are so pro-box, maybe you should consider offering up your easement to spare someone who is against one on theirs."
If I live downtown and decide to let AT&T put a box in front of my building, that isn't going to help out the people up north who are complaining about boxes in front of their houses. Still, when I bought the condo I signed something agreeing to giving easements to just about everybody.
I don't know if this AT&T technology is good or not, but I do like competition. More importantly, we can't let our communications and utility infrastructure be held hostage by every NIMBY who doesn't want telephone poles spoiling the rural atmosphere of his Central Street estate, or "dangerous" overhead electric lines anywhere in the vicinity of where his children play.
The same is true for gas & water pipes...we have public boards to regulate this kind of stuff. They should make their decisions based on what is needed for our infrastructure, promoting competition and considering safety issues. Issues like whether a NIMBY doesn't like boxes in front of his house should not deprive the rest of us of utilities or telecommunications.
This is also true for railroads and airports. We can't have our economy crippled because some fool in Barrington bought a house next to the railroad tracks but doesn't want trains going by, or someone in Elk Grove Village doesn't like the noise of jets at O'Hare.
U-verse boxes
Mr Who Knows What? is obviously overjoyed with the boxes. As a noted gadfly and expert on NPV and city planning he will be ecstatic over:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-tue-greising-u-verse-feb03,0,2893173,print.column
Who What? obviously does not want an informed citizenry.
Poorly constructed arguments...
First of all, I hesitated to even post this because it's pretty evident that Mr. Who Knows clearly doesn't... especially in light of his silly arguments in favor of the AT&T Boxes.
Utility and communication grids are well established and the providers have managed to use the existing infrastructure to bring us these services. AT&T is creating new infrastructure to provide a service which is not even equal to the service provided by Comcast (for the record, both of these companies are bastions of bad service and I wouldn't endorse either of them). This uproar wouldn't exist if the AT&T equipment was buried or located along existing infrastructure corridors (alleys). I also don't think stopping the installation of the AT&T boxes would cripple the economy.
If you buy property next to a rail line, airport, university, landfill, etc. you should be aware of what that entails and it diminishes the validity of any whining that follows. But that seems different than having a major corporation building a large box in the front yard of someone's house, so that they can provide a service that is inferior to what's already available.
Also, I sense a bit of jealousy from you towards the residents of NW Evanston. Sure the properties are expensive in NW Evanston, and it's great that they are because the property taxes from that part of town are paying the freight for the City. Diminishing the value of these properties by allowing AT&T to try to increase their market share is short-sighted and bad for Evanston in the short and long run.
right-of-way
Q, you complain of poorly constructed arguments while using poorly understood facts. These boxes are in the parkway, a legal easement along the street, not in anyone's front yard, which is private property. If they had to be on front yards, the property owner would have to be compensated.
Now, a land owner is obliged to maintain the parkway and can take advantage of the use of the parkway, and some may come to believe that it is their 'owned' property, but the municipality has all rights to access, alter, or even remove the parkway as it requires for infrastructure.
AT&T may have swindled the state to get access to it, but they are not alone under that turf; there are any combination of signal and power lines for street lights, natural gas, sewerage, phone and cable under the easement. All of which have exposed valves, taps, boxes, or vaults. It doesn't all fit in the alleys. *Remember kids, be sure to call J.U.L.I.E. before you dig out there!
Providing competition among cable TV providers is a benefit to Evanston.
Q
Q says:
1."Utility and communication grids are well established and the providers have managed to use the existing infrastructure to bring us these services"
Not really. New cell phone towers pop up all the time (over the objections of NIMBYs). Sewers are always being replaced, expanded, or repaired. Roads are widened, new roads are created.
I know several people in formerly remote exurban areas who replaced their wells with municipal water in the 1980's. Would we permit one obnoxious NIMBY to stop the pipe from going across his yard?
2. " AT&T is creating new infrastructure to provide a service which is not even equal to the service provided by Comcast "
I don't know how they stack up. We can let the market decide that. The point is, this kind of stuff should be regulated at a higher level. We cannot have every block, or even every village, acting as trolls under the bridge and deciding whether to permit utilities to pass through their territory - or trying to squeeze some concessions out of the company.
All these people complaining about the 'inferior service' - if these people are knowledgeable about the technology, and so passionate about preventing this inferior technology from spreading in Illinois, I wonder if they spoke out earlier. Instead - like the folks who brought us the 'economic analysis' of the tower plan - these people just start with their conclusions and work their way backwards to find the justification.
I don't want a box on my street --> This technology is inferior.
I don't like towers. ---> My 'analysis' shows that the tower will cause lower revenues for the city.
I don't want a new Civic Center --> My 'analysis' shows that it is cheaper to repair the current one.
Would you be OK with the boxes if the technology were better?
a. No? Then it isn't about technology.
b. Yes, you would? I suspect that AT&T will improve the technology.
[Really, I would prefer that broadband and HDTV be beamed from a giant spire on top of a shiny new Tower in downtown Evanston. ]
3. " But that seems different than having a major corporation building a large box in the front yard of someone's house, so that they can provide a service that is inferior to what's already available."
Again, I have no opinion on the quality of the service. The regulatory agencies, and the market, will settle that issue. But what is this business of "building a large box in the front yard of someone's house"? I don't see that mentioned in the article - I only see mentions of boxes being built 'in the parkway', and a photo of a box place on the sidewalk margins. Is there anyone out there who has had a box place on his or her property?
4."Also, I sense a bit of jealousy from you towards the residents of NW Evanston. Sure the properties are expensive in NW Evanston, and it's great that they are because the property taxes from that part of town are paying the freight for the City."
I don't need lectures from NW Evanston about 'paying the freight' - whatever surplus you contribute is not going my way. And, it should be noted, whatever surplus is obtained from NW Evanston is diminished by the NIMBYs of NW Evanston who prevent economic growth and development by fighting the Tower and preserving the wasteful north branch library.
Maybe I want this AT&T stuff. I could download 'Evanston Now' faster, and watch 'Dancing with the Stars' in hdtv for a lower price than Comcast.
Mr. Who Knows Little...
“Not really. New cell phone towers pop up all the time (over the objections of NIMBYs). Sewers are always being replaced, expanded, or repaired. Roads are widened, new roads are created.”
Please provide an example, in Evanston, of a cell phone tower placed in a parkway in a residential area. Or how about a sewer/water pipe that is relocated to the parkway and then installed above ground? Maybe you can point to a new road that has been created and constructed in a well established residential area? How many residential streets get significantly widened (adding a lane or more) in Evanston on an annual basis? So, really…utilities are located in alleys and underground or along major corridors. Your assertion that the AT&T boxes are the same as these other systems is ridiculous.
“Would you be OK with the boxes if the technology were better?
a. No? Then it isn't about technology.
b. Yes, you would? I suspect that AT&T will improve the technology.”
If the boxes represented a legitimate leap forward in technology, if they enabled a wifi Evanston for example, I would have no problem with them. Assuming, of course, that the same gains couldn’t be made using alleys/existing utility corridors to install the technology.
“I only see mentions of boxes being built 'in the parkway', and a photo of a box place on the sidewalk margins.”
Do you know where the parkway is located in residential areas? The city has an easement on the parkway, but the homeowner is responsible for it. To dispute that the boxes are located in the front yard of these residents is asinine. Look at the pictures. Also, the residents of Evanston own the parkway, so all the boxes have been placed on my property.
“it should be noted, whatever surplus is obtained from NW Evanston is diminished by the NIMBYs of NW Evanston who prevent economic growth and development by fighting the Tower and preserving the wasteful north branch library.”
I’m glad that most of the people that live in Evanston don’t hold your views. Most of us tend to value things like the character of the community. Shutting down libraries in this economy is a dumb idea, even for you. I hope the North Branch Library lives far into the future and I’m happy to pay the high tax rate to support things like the Library system. How do you think all of those proposed tower condos would be selling right now?
Save Evanston! Stop the ATT boxes!
"Please provide an example, in Evanston, of a cell phone tower placed in a parkway in a residential area.
Well..once it becomes that specific, I guess the answer is no.
So I guess your legal argument is that utility easements should not have been granted in Evanston on parkways in residential areas, because - as far as we know - there are no currently existing utilities on parkways in Evanston in residential area.
I haven't paid much attention to this issue. So maybe nowhere in Evanston there is a gas pipe going under a parkway in Evanston on a residential area, or a water or electrical cable?
Well..I see you have made things even more specific, to clarify the issue:
"Or how about a sewer/water pipe that is relocated to the parkway and then installed above ground?"
So I guess the point is, no easements should be given for utilities that are above ground, in Evanston, on parkways, and in residential areas.
But wait...
"If the boxes represented a legitimate leap forward in technology, if they enabled a wifi Evanston for example, I would have no problem with them. "
OK..I think I've got it now:
No easements should be given for utilities that are above ground, in Evanston, on parkways, and in residential areas, unless they represent a leap forward in technology.
It is not a very catchy slogan - too long to fit on a lawnsign. Still, I am sure that a 'grassroots' organization of concerned citizens ( Citizens Opposed to Granting Easements to Utilities on Parkways Above Ground in Residential Areas Without a Leap Forward in Technology) can be formed.
Let's meet in the north branch library to organize!
Q- you don't own the parkway, the city does
Your property ends, and the city's property begins at the sidewalk. The sidewalk itself, the area between the sidewalk and curb (parkway) and roadway are all owned by the city. Individual homeowners are responsible for maintenance (mowing and shoveling snow) but it is indeed city-owned property.
You can argue all you want about the validity of the boxes and their placement, but please stop insinuating that they're being put on private property because it's simply not the case.
Who cares who owns it...?
If I recall, the statement was made that the parkways belong to the city, and therefore to all of us. The fact that there was a bait and switch, or an outright lie to city officials over the magnitude of the project in spreading eyesores across the city is the real issue. The other issue is, what, if anything, can we do about it now? (other than snipe at one another pointlessly?)
I care who owns it.
If we are going to have an intelligent debate about an issue, people need to be aware of the facts and respect them, rather than trying to distort facts to their liking to make a point.
There are plenty of valid arguments regarding the placement of these utility boxes, but insinuating that they are being illegally placed within homeowners front yards is not one of them. It is a poorly constructed argument because it distorts the legal fact that a homeowners front yard does not include the parkway.
Read much?
Thanks Jason for actually reading what I wrote, something Evanston RLA and Mr. Know Nothing obviously failed to do. If we are going to have an intelligent debate people need to read the actual words that were written, and not try to distort my position to their liking to make a point.
My position is exactly what I wrote in my initial post. The parkway easement, which is located in the homeowner’s front yard in residential areas regardless of ownership, exists to enable the distribution of utilities, etc. and is owned by the City, which represents the people.
As far as I am concerned the City can dig up the parkway to install all the underground pipes and wires that they want. It is ridiculous to equate the maintenance and installation of underground utilities with the construction of an above-ground structure, new structures should go in the alleys in the residential areas. The fact that the boxes are being constructed to allow a major corporation entry into the market with a product which doesn’t seem to offer any tangible benefits over the product offered by the competition using the existing infrastructure doesn’t make much sense to me. I still stand by my charge that much of the support of the boxes is driven by an underlying current of jealousy towards the residents of NW Evanston. I think some of the most avid box supporters are probably, if they were honest, relishing in the fact that the property values of the homes that had boxes placed in their yards was undoubtedly diminished. I would argue that lowering property values is bad for the whole city, no matter where you live.
Jealousy?
Q, I can get behind you in your criticism of the boxes, however your comments regarding people wishing diminished property values on the citizens of NW Evanston sound, frankly, more than a little paranoid.
I live in SE Evanston, and I would not wish these boxes on anyone--be they homeowners, renters, Section 8, whatever. Ugly boxes are ugly anywhere, and diminish the beauty of our city far more than the loss of trees. Trees can be replanted. An ugly box is ugly forever.
I appreciate the call for intelligent discussion--let's all try to remember that we accomplish nothing by attacking one another. We may all have different agendas and priorities, but we should not allow the argument to interfere with constructive action.
Radiation from the Spire
Mr. Who Knows What? states:
[Really, I would prefer that broadband and HDTV be beamed from a giant spire on top of a shiny new Tower in downtown Evanston. ]
Know What? has obviously drunk the Kool Aid in his anti-NIMBY crusade.
Is this a sly way to eliminate the people who live in the area around the "Spire"? Would he relish being subjected to all that radiation in the thousands of kilowatt range?
Who needs a microwave oven?
New Resident-- Completely Annoyed
I just recently moved to Northwest Evanston-- I have lived here for one month and each week, I answer the door to kids working for AT&T selling fiber optic service. I politely say no each time, and I have a chuckle at how they call me Mrs. (Last name of former resident of my home.)
But this week, a line got crossed, I must have made a list for their aggressive roll out campaign for January-- two reps showed up TWICE today at my home. The first time I refused the pair. Then three hours later after they had gone door to door in my neighborhood, they showed up again being really pushy. I said I did not want their services, and the woman of the pair said, "Well do you even know what it is?" And I said, "Yes, you'd like to install a giant green box to improve my service with slower service." Then she said, "You don't even know what you're talking about."
I asked them to please leave and the woman rolled her eyes at me.
If you have any complaints about Comcast (don't we all-- remember the elderly woman who went to her local Comcast office and hit their phone with a hammer?) let me just illustrate the ridiculous "strong arming" AT&T is up to with their faux door-to-door snarky college kid sales force.
Seriously, what can we do?
I hate these ugly boxes
What ever happened to preserving the tree lined streets of Evanston? These ugly boxes on our streets are terrible. What ever happened here is a huge mistake. If I wanted to live in Niles or Morton Grove, I would not be paying these taxes!!!
AT& T Boxes
Stop complaining. If the taggers set to work on them, then that will be a good thing. Maybe they will lay-off garage doors for awhile. Maybe the city and AT&T could start a tagger contest for the best color and design for tagging the boxes. Prizes could be $50 fine and a night the jail.
Me, I am jsut waiting for one of Evanstons many DUI's to plow into one and black-out the service. Nice job of planing and construction.
AT & T Boxes
So that is what they are. They are huge - at first I thought someone left a household appliance out for pick up. What a bunch of Aholes! Time to plant very dense prickly landscaping all around them so the taggers can't use them and they should be painted black too. I guess if the government can take our homes we shouldn't be supprised that government would allow stuff like that...
Stop crying an blaming, march on Springfield if you must!
Wake up people!, the city along with all the other Illinois municipalities got this rammed down there throats by the State legislature. Then after you get pissed at Springfield, cut them some slack because AT&T has been working on getting the Federal Government to ram it down the states throats for several years.
So instead of wasting time trying to budge the city to suckup to AT&T to paint the boxes, or whatever, write your congressman or woman, and senator to say the whole AT&T project looks bad.
Because if you think the city can take on AT&T and win, your wrong. Naperville, which is bigger and badder in terms of money than Evanston, took on AT&T and lost!(google it to see) I'm tired of the city wasting our property tax money on litigation it can't win because a few agitated residents are out of touch with the realities of why certain things happen
Boycott AT&T until they stop the box invasion
I will not purchase AT&T for my home or my business. I will tell anyone and everyone why: they put those g*d-awful ugly, enormous metal boxes everywhere in Evanston.
Why should I encourage that kind of reckless, thoughtless behavior by a company? Sure, competition to Comcast would be great. But at what cost?
I'd much rather have pleasant looking streets with no competition than these metal boxes that look like discarded file cabinets with competition. Nope, not one dime for AT&T until they revise their plan to reduce or eliminate this pox on our landscape.
What if every business got this opportuniy -- slap up some ugly junk everywhere around the city in the name of competition? I'm certain that our state legislators would be willing to sell us out again for another company flying the "competition" flag.
Has anyone checked into the donations received by our state legisators from AT&T? There was a price for them to sell such broad access to our street sides.
Boycott AT&T
I back your boycott 100%. Even though my property isn't slotted for one of the boxes, I sympathize with my fellow Evanstonians who have fallen victim and have one of these eyesores on their lawn. Those of you who don't like the boxes, please boycott AT&T.
Those of you who hate comcast so much that you would be willing to live with the boxes, please offer up YOUR easement to AT&T!
I absolutely despise Comcast
I absolutely despise Comcast (in a huge way), but it's worth noting that even AT&T's highest advertised internet service, MAX, is slower (10Mbps down/1.5 Mbps up) than what I've had for some time on a normal Comcast connection in south evanston (12-14Mbps down/2Mbps up). So, basically, all these boxes are just to get them a step below where Comcast has already been able to be without littering our public space.
Still, Comcast is more than bad enough to make switching to AT&T still a strong consideration, although going with AT&T is somewhat of an endorsement of these boxes and wiretapping.
AT&T boxes update
John Burke, head of the city's public works department, gave a presentation updating the AT&T box situation at Monday's City Council Administration and Public Works Committee meeting.
You can see the slide show yourself (in .pdf format) here.
Rumors abound re: fiber optic installation
You are going to laugh as soon as I tell you this but this rumor does exist. The purpose of the fiber optic installation is to spy on us. And lets face it, 30 years ago to suggest that we would have cameras monitoring everything that moves would be laughable. Traffic yes, but to the point that cameras can issue tickets? And now that we have become comfortable with cameras watching our every move that old bugaboo from childhood days "Big Brother" has arrived, or to some he has been here awhile.
How does fiber optic spying work exactly?
Certainly they'd know if you watched PBS or CNN or the Playboy channel.
Would they be able to track your eye movements to know which Playmate's "naughty bits" you prefer?
Would they be able to record your pulse, GSR and BP to know how excited you got when she did this, or she did that?
Would they be able to peer into your room to see what you're wearing? Who's with you? What you're reading and eating?
Would they access the key-stroke capture software on your computer and look at all your emails and google searches and passwords?
Would they be able to connect to the micro-chip they'd planted in your head and give you instructions about posting messages to EvanstonNow? ["John, stop with the spying fiber optics. Go with the ugly AT&T boxes."]
I was just wondering.
How were we supposed to know?
In Bill's 6/28 article about these new boxes, there is a link to the City for a pdf map with a location for all of these boxes. Does anyone know whether there was an attempt on anyone's part to make this infornation available when it was initially published? Or did someone have to be watching this site for the information? My guess is that there might have been a number of neighborhoods that would have expressed some concern about their boxes.
So going back to an earlier post, how do we make the case for AT&T to put in greenery or something attractive adjacent to our most recent public utility that is sitting on what I think is the City's easement?
KPT02 you should ask Steve Berstein
KPTO2 - several council meeting along - during the call of the wards - several of the alderperson claimed how helpless they where in the entire issue of the installation of these boxes ( it appears people are complaining ) I can not recall if you alderman was one of them who spoke to the issue- and that the state granted AT&T the right - interesting enough I see it as their usual not dealing with the problem - in any engineering solution it should be reviewed for the objectives - the first past should have been to review box location and then rework them to better locations. I am not certain this happen - council members personnel should have looked at this - by the way - not many boxes are still approved - for placement - why were the ones at Haven installed? Because no one cares what mess they cause in front of the school.
The impact on South Evanston will be large since the number of these boxes is higher in areas with higher population density.
AT&T Boxes and Cable Commission
In most communities (such as Skokie) the subject of the boxes would probably have come up before a Cable Commission, made up of full time staff and citizens. Evanston does not have a Cable Commission. There is some staff who deal with cable issues. There are no citizen participants.
There was at one time, quite a number of years ago, only an ad hoc cable commission when the transfer of a cable franchise was made between service providers. I was on that ad hoc group, my qualifications being that I was a consultant in the cable industry. Once the franchise transfer was made, the ad hoc group was disbanded. Besides myself and two other citizens, Bernstein, Hill and Rubin were there from the city side. My presence and questions were not received with enthusiasm.
The AT&T end-around
As the boxes were springing up in the Main / Forest area, I had conversation with someone at the Civic Center who filled me in on the fast shuffle that was done by AT&T. Seems they went to the state legislature and got permission to put boxes here, there and everywhere. The City has limited power over the placement - they can ask for decorative plants to screen them and other then insuring they are not blocking a road etc. that is about it.
AT&T seems to be everywhere
I don't know where AT&T has all their boxes. But recently they seem to have been all around town digging up lines to their current boxes and upgrading their fiber-optic service. Can we assume that this means we will soon have them as an alternative to Comcast? Does anyone know? The services seems to be okay, but it sure seems pricey. I am hoping that this introduces some competition that will bring Comcast's prices down.
AT&T Boxes
AT&T is installing their Uverse fiber optic system throughout Evanston. It is already operative in parts of Evanston. It will provide broadband, TV and phone service. The broadband cost is about half of Comcast and the TV service is comparable if not less. I doubt that Comcast will lower their prices unless they lose significant subscribers.
Annoying visually, but decent product
A) it doesn't provide phone service. You don't even get a discount for having their home phone service, which was annoying.
B) the internet price is fairly similar for the speeds cable is supposed to provide. The real savings are in the television part of the bill. They do offer cheap, slower internet options though, which is nice.
C) it's not exactly fiber optic. From those boxes to your house, it will (for the large majority of people at this point) be on your old copper lines. While this saves them (and their customers) money, it has negative effects on the quality of the television picture (compression artifacts, etc).
After having it for a couple of weeks, my wife wants to keep it and cancel cable. I'm less enthusiastic (missing half the Cubs games in HD will be annoying, but they seem to be adding HD channels day by day), but I think that's the way we'll go.
AT&T Boxes
They are truly ugly. But my main question is: Does the City receives revenue for use of this "public owned property"? Parkways are not technically public ways but they are property of the City not the adjacent building owner--City pays for parkway tree planting and maintenance through the grass maintenance is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner/renter.
If AT &T is not paying for the privilege of installing these ugly utilitiy boxes in the parkways something is wrong, worng , wrong. Can someone answer this?
The A T& T boxes marked again at Haven more tax dollars spent
The other day when I drove by Haven the old graffeti was removed and new graffeti was on the boxes - interesting how much will the city now spend to clean these 150 or more boxes in town - let say 1/3 are tagged a year - 50 boxes - I would not be surprised if we will spend several thousand dollars if not more to clean the boxes clearly this was something the city did not dealt with when AT &T proposed these boxes.
Thanks Bill - for the posting of the photo
Bill - thanks for the posting - these boxes could have been placed down the street south of the front of the building between the small wing and elementary school with little effect on the look of the buildings. ( the council statements about engineering are alot of nonsense in my opinion )
By the way you should post the other photo - with the gang marking on it! We should ask who will be responsible to clean up all the spray paint on these boxes - the marking on the boxes at Haven are terms for the police - no doubt placed by our junior criminal element.
That's what those are for?
That's what those are for? Yeah, mark me down a vote for in the "hate them" column.
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