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Was driving down a state road a few days ago and noticed that a VZ pole was leaning a bit more than the usual VZ leaning poles. I stopped and took a closer look. It was split all the way around about 8 feet above the ground. It was being held up by the cables and guy wires. I wrote down the pole number and a few hours later, I girded my loins, put some snacks and drinks on the desk, turned on some Floyd and dialed 800 VERIZON. After having hit "zero" repeatedly to ward off the robotic evil spirits, I was "connected"...sort of...to a very nice gal in the Philippines who could not quite understand what I meant by a "telephone pole."

"Do you mean the pole in your house that holds up your television?" was one of the questions that she asked, trying desperately to grasp what I meant. Finally, she connected me to a "technical specialist," a young man in Texas who listened to me explain that there was a Verizon pole, #3811, on Montauk Highway, in Amagansett, New York, ZIP code 11930, with a nearest cross street of Napeague Meadow Lane.

Smoke came out of his ears when I tried to spell the three Indian names for him. He finally got it all written down (or input into a computer) and announced that he could not take a report of this type, because "Verizon does not own any poles any more. They are all owned by the city."

I gently hung up and finished my sandwich and iced tea, just as Floyd was ending.

Sorry but I can't resist - "Welcome to the Machine"...

Wow, three poles were just replaced on the street where my office is. Of course, the power company did their thing right away. Comcast came in shortly thereafter and replaced all of their cable, not just relocating it like one would expect. Last week, Verizon came in and double-spun a new 600 pair copper cable onto one of the existing ones and dropped it into a new pedestal. I was very surprised to see them show up so soon to the show, but they did.

Verizon installing new copper is what really surprised me. No contractors either. It was done by about five Verizon employees in Verizon bucket trucks in only about three hours for about 900 feet of total length. I guess there is hope, at least in Virginia.

Arthur, it appears that in these parts, the power company takes pole reports a bit more seriously than any other utility. Even if they don't own the pole, the likelihood of them sending someone out to take a look is a bit better than your chances with Verizon. I guess it has more to do with the potential safety risk. I'll get some pictures of this project tomorrow. I must say that I was impressed.

Sorry but I can't resist - "Welcome to the Machine"...

LOL

Who doesn't love themselves a bit of Floyd at night?

I love how out of state people deal with the Long Island Indian
names.
Is this politically correct :]

When the announcers/callers butcher "Maumee", imagine how they pronounce Wapakoneta.

Maw MEE

I've seen several split poles in my state during my travels. Fairpoint around these parts has been pretty good about replacing their poles when damaged or beyond life span, but I have found a few stragglers that haven't been replaced. Also, Fairpoint doesn't seem too interested in moving their lines over to a new pole in a timely fashion. The power company and cable companies move their stuff over usually within a month, but YEARS go by and Fairpoint leaves the old pole with their strands still attached. If they do move over to the new pole, often times the PMTs (pole mounted terminals) are left hanging in the breeze or ziptied to the strand they should be renamed air mounted terminals.

Bingo. A typical distribution power pole has a phase-to-phase voltage in the 13.2kV - 13.8kV range. Aside from the potential shock/arc flash hazards associated with a line fault, a large enough fault could trigger upstream (i.e. transmission-level) protective relays to trigger, which would be an even larger headache for the power company.

Maybe playing "Wish You Were Here" in front of the Ma Bell logo would help?

Doesn't sound to me like it's a joint use pole with the power company. Still no reason for it.