Cables, equipment left in Charlotte neighborhood during AT&T fiber installation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cables and equipment have been left sitting in the middle of a Charlotte neighborhood and residents told Channel 9 it’s one of many headaches they’re dealing with as crews update the city’s high-speed fiber lines.

Al Traver said he called AT&T for months and spoke to the company's techs about a piece of equipment sitting in front of his home.

"It's been here probably six to eight months, at least in this configuration,” Traver said.

It's called a "fiber splice" and Traver said it's a headache that belongs to AT&T.

He told Channel 9 he's called the company about the large bulky box outside his home in Sherwood Forest, but nothing has been done about it.

"It detracts from the house and the value, plus it's a pain in the neck trying to landscape around it and that type of thing,” Traver said.

Traver said the fiber installation in his neighborhood has taken years.

Channel 9 has been reporting on issues with fiber installation by both AT&T and Google Fiber for over a year, from cut utility lines to unfinished work.

In the past, Channel 9 found contractors for both companies owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for damage around Charlotte.

Neighbors in Sherwood Forest said they haven't dealt with damage. But Traver said he hasn't been given any information on a timeline for fiber installation or when work will impact his property or areas near it.

"They don't give the neighbors the information they need to, 'Well, this is going to take six months and then it'll go away or it's going to take two years,” Traver said.

A spokeswoman for the North Carolina Attorney General said their office received 500 complaints from people about AT&T over the last three years. The office is gathering specifics about the problems, but didn't elaborate on how they're handling them.

Customers like Traver said a phone call or mail notification would go a long way.

After Channel 9 left Traver's home, he said an AT&T employee stopped by and told him the box would be buried in a week.

An AT&T spokesperson told Channel 9 they would look into the issue and provide answers on the progress of fiber installation around the Charlotte area.

The company also issued this statement on the matter:

We announced plans to launch fiber internet service in Charlotte July 2014. Service was launched less than a year later. The service is currently available in parts of Belmont, Charlotte, Gastonia, Cornelius, Huntersville, Mint Hill and surrounding areas. We plan to expand access to ultra-fast internet speeds in parts of Davidson and Pineville in the future. We now market our ultra-fast service powered by AT&T Fiber to more than 180,000 customer locations in the Charlotte area. We are carefully working to expand access to our fastest internet to as many communities as possible.

As the new high-speed internet service is or becomes available at additional locations, we’re contacting residents and small businesses at eligible locations directly to make sure they are aware they can sign up for our fastest internet speeds today.

We are working with the customer in South Charlotte and are on track to resolve the issue soon.

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