AT&T Says "Respect My Authority." Sues Small Cities -- Slap Suit or Poor Victimized Mega-Conglomerate? You Decide.

Thanks to Peter Collins for passing this information along. AT&T, the largest telecommunications incumbent in the nation, claims that the cities of Geneva, North Aurora, Wood Dale, Carpentersville, Wheaton, and Roselle are not respecting its authority.

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AT&T sues Geneva, N. Aurora

Fiber optic fight: Company says its rights are violated; towns push for more time

By Steve Lord
staff writer

Communications giant AT&T has sued Geneva and North Aurora because of the towns' efforts to delay the company's fiber optic network upgrade, Project Lightspeed.

Officials in each town were served this week with notice of the lawsuit, along with Wood Dale in DuPage County, which passed a similar moratorium. Those three municipalities join Carpentersville, Wheaton and Roselle, who were sued by AT&T about a month ago.

In all cases, the towns' six-month moratoriums were designed to stop certain above- and underground utility installations. In Geneva, those include any "utility fixture, cabinet, box, structure, device or appurtenance, including those related to video transmissions ..."

Geneva officials said Thursday they enacted the moratorium to study a number of issues related to Project Lightspeed, most notably where the estimated 22 to 29 boxes - each 6-feet-3-inches high and 3-feet-8-inches wide - needed for the fiber optic upgrade will go in public right-of-way and on private property.

"The citizens own those rights-of-way ... and they should have some say in when and where these large utility boxes get deployed," said Mary McKittrick, Geneva assistant city administrator. "This is like a 300-pound gorilla coming in and saying 'we don't have to,' versus a responsible corporate citizen coming in and saying, 'we don't have to, but we want to.'"

TV, broadband services

Spokesmen for AT&T Thursday said they filed the lawsuit against the moratoriums because they believe them to be illegal and unwarranted. "We think it's unlawful, and we have to pursue our options," said Michael Tye, AT&T vice president for legislative affairs in the Midwest region. "It's a substantial delay for us. They have stopped an upgrade of the network."

Project Lightspeed is an Internet-based network to deliver television, broadband and voice services using "fiber-to-the-neighborhood" and "fiber-to-the-premises" technologies, according to AT&T. The company plans to add 40,000 miles of fiber-optic cable as part of the initial project, reaching about 18 million households nationwide.

Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns has been quoted as saying the city welcomes that technology and upgrade. But officials want time to consider some issues related to the project. Not only is the city concerned about where the fiber optic boxes - known as nodes - will go, but also just how much of the community will get Project Lightspeed.

Officials have said they want a guarantee the company will serve all of the community, which is the same guarantee cable television providers have to make to municipalities as part of franchise agreements. AT&T has said because it is Internet-based, it is not a cable company, and should not be subject to cable franchise agreements.

City officials have said that their moratorium does not restrict
telecommunications expansion. In fact, city officials said they currently are reviewing four applications AT&T made to Geneva for utility boxes before the moratorium was passed April 17.

"We are in the process of reviewing these applications, and we told them we would send comments within about 30 days, which is a normal review time," McKittrick said. "Two days later, they served us with a lawsuit. I find it difficult to find them in good faith."

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05/05/06

AT&T Files Four More Lawsuits

By Linda Haugsted
5/4/2006 6:57:00 PM

Four more Chicago suburbs were sued by AT&T Inc. for delaying plant improvements that will lead to a launch later of the telephone company's video service.

The new defendants are Itasca, North Aurora, Wood Dale and Geneva. Suits were filed against the Illinois communities May 2 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Previously, AT&T sued the communities of Carpentersville, Roselle and Wheaton, Ill., as well as two communities in California.

The telephone company is taking a hard line against communities that approve moratoria on siting permits. City regulators say they need time to figure out how to safely site the large control boxes -- called 52Bs in the telco's shorthand -- in the public rights-of-way.

AT&T -- which is upgrading its plant to improve service, as well as make ready for video delivery -- said in the lawsuits that any conditions on the siting permits, such as language indicating that a cable franchise may be needed at a later time, are improper, unlawful and unenforceable under state and federal law.

According to local regulators, 10 communities have put the brakes to the improvement drive, called Project Lightspeed. Of those, seven have been sued and three more anticipate legal action.

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AT&T plan blocked in city for 6 months

Denise Linke
Published May 3, 2006

BATAVIA -- The Batavia City Council voted Monday to block for six months the installation of video transmission utilities in public rights of way, joining Geneva, North Aurora and several other suburbs in putting the brakes on AT&T's Project Lightspeed.

"We are quite concerned that allowing this type of installation would
violate our franchise agreement with [cable television provider] Comcast," said Ald. Eldon Frydendall. "Recent developments have only confused the rules. Until we have an opportunity to see what happens, we would be remiss in allowing this to go forward."

AT&T, formerly SBC, has asked to install fiber-optic cables in public rights of way to serve some homes in the city. The cables would provide Internet-based phone and television services as well as high-speed Internet service.

AT&T officials have said Project Lightspeed should not require a cable television franchise or pay franchise fees because the service would not be delivered through traditional video cables.

Mayor Jeff Schielke said he would not consider any form of Project Lightspeed that did not include a franchise agreement and service throughout the city.

"We do not want to allow them to operate without a level playing field. We do not want to see a redline arrangement [in which only more upscale neighborhoods would get service]," he stated. "If we don't have a franchise agreement, we won't have the control we need."

AT&T officials could not be reached for comment.