Phone line installation

[Actor 123]

Hi all:

I just purchased a new home. The house is great, but it looks to me like whoever did the telephone line installation did a strange job of it. There is a telephone pole behind my backyard. Rather than bury the telephone line in the backyard (clearly doable, as there is a dirt garden area around the fenceline that could be dug up a bit without disturbing any plants), they simply ran the line from the telephone pole to the roof of my house and then down the side. Its a single family home, so the effect is that I have a telephone line hanging 10' above a portion of my backyard. My questions have to do with remedying this. I have no idea who did this, but given that it is attached to the telephone line I would have to assume it was the phone company. Is this a proper install? Do I have any ability to force the phone company to come out and rebury the cable? I wouldn't even mind doing it myself (not really a huge project), but there is no slack in the line, so it would involve cutting the line and splicing in an extension. I'm also not sure if I'm allowed to touch the line that touches the telephone line.

Any help?

[G. Morgan]

Someone named [e-mail] (Actor 123) Proclaimed on 2 May 2004

22:33:21 -0700,

You can't do anything to the line before the point of demarcation. That is the part leading up to the NID (Network Interface Device), the gray box with the house wiring in it. You'll have to call the TELCO and have them redo it for you (I don't know how much, if any, they would charge).

-Graham

[w_tom]

You can bury the telco line BUT all costs are on you. You must dig the trench to telco's required depth. You must put down whatever protective material (ie sand) they want a trench lined with - according to a thickness they call for. Furthermore, you may have to pay for any wire that goes from telephone pole to your demarcation point. Understand why builders don't bury wires unless required by code.

Given - a buried wire means more reliable service - especially when you need phone most - during or after severe weather. If only your line is down, utility won't get to it until last. If your line is buried, the only down line important to many people and will be repaired immediately. So yes, there are many advantages to buried service - telephone, cable, and TV. The downside are the upfront costs and the work YOU must do.

If existing line is only 10' above ground, then telco must pay to have line raised to 14' above ground. That is their responsibility.

Also ph> I just purchased a new home. The house is great, but it looks to

[ßÎG€o€k]

Overhead phone lines have been in use since phones first went unto use. All my life I lived in a house with an overhead line. What's the problem? Note: While overhead lines can be knocked down by falling trees and stuff, underground lines are prone to burn up from lightning.. It's easier to spot a broken overhead.

You need a special connector to splice underground. Only the phone company has them.

[Bill Donovan]

If you've got a cable modem, switch to Vonage; it's cheaper and you can tell the phone company to go stuff it!

[e-mail] (Actor 123) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

[B a r r y]

In my area, it's more fun to tell the cable TV company to go stuff it.

Barry

[Minnie Bannister]

My phone service has always been more reliable than my cable internet service: Nynex/Bell Atlantic/Verizon vs. Optimum Online in New York, SBC vs. Charter in Michigan.

MB

On 05/03/04 05:10 am Bill Donovan put fingers to keyboard and launched the following message into cyberspace:

[Chris Lewis]

According to G. Morgan :

If they're going to charge you, ask the Telco if they would reduce the charge if you predug the trench for them.

Or, have them simply lay it on the ground, and dig it in yourself.

This may not be worth the effort, but you never know.

At least in our area, they seem to consider "just under the sod" deep enough...

[Travis Jordan]

ßÎG?o?k@________.com wrote: /snip/

/snip/

Please cite your source for you comment that underground lines being prone to burn up from lightning. I live in the lightning capital of the U.S. (West Central Florida) and I've never seen that happen here. Water intrusion, yes, but lightning no.

[Mike Dobony]

Code is a minimum of 14". My b-i-l got in trouble for going down 6" to put in a new driveway. He ended up taking out several home's phone lines. The telepone company wanted to charge him for the repair. He sent it to the city who stated the phone company was at fault for not burying the line deep enough. The phone company had to pay for the repair AND redo the line to code.

-- Mike D.

Remove .spamnot to respond by email

[Bill Donovan]

You've got a point there!!

B a r r y wrote in news: [e-mail]:

[Actor 123]

Thanks for everyone's advce. I called the Telco and not only will the reduce the charge if I dug the trench (and put in conduit), but there won't even be any charge. They said they will drop the line free of charge. That's one less new house headache!

God, I got great customer service from the phone company, and was only on hold for like 30 seconds. Is hell freezing over?

[I-zheet M'drurz]

Believe it or not, I've *always* had good customer service from Telco, at least in this area (Bell Atlantic now Verizon) and I really have to strain to remember when I had any technical problems that lasted more than an hour or two. Telco gets lumped in with all of the *terrible* service we get from cable companies, doctors' offices, etc. I don't think they deserve it.

[RB]

You haven't had the pleasure of dealing with Southwestern Bell.

RB

I-zheet M'drurz wrote: