Eighteen months after the project started, Yuille's company recently won key decisions against Farmington and Birmingham over fees. We don't know what we're going to do. We're back to square one. The fees add up quickly. Most lines travel underneath several communities.
Partisans decry some charges as ludicrous.
Most projects lay cable underground without disrupting concrete. The Public Service Commission recently convened municipal and industry officials in hopes of adopting a standard statewide fee system. Tanner acknowledged that some city leaders are skeptical. Cities must upkeep an increasingly spaghetti-like tangle of lines and remain liable for mishaps. Workers laying cable this summer knocked out phone service in Troy.