On Saturday, a wrecked piece of telephone equipment caught my eye on Elm Street.
This bit of streetside wreckage raises some questions, doesn’t it?
Years ago, when we had a conventional land line provided by the phone company, I once picked up the receiver to make a call and instead of a dial tone, heard a conversation between two people I didn’t know.
From another phone, I called the company (I think it was still Qwest). A technician came and fiddled with the wires in the little steel box on the parking strip outside. That fixed the trouble.
From that experience I learned that those green boxes along the streets contain dozens of pairs of spliced wires that serve phone customers in the neighborhood. A wrong splice and you hear strangers converse.
The wrecked box in the photo was on Southwest Elm Street between 10th and 11th avenues. The marks on the bent shell suggest that someone in a vehicle ran into it and smashed it.
The label says the box belonged to Qwest, the Denver-based phone company acquired by CenturyLink in 2011 in what the Denver Post reported was a $24 billion deal.
I didn’t see any pairs of phone wires in this broken box. Question: Was the wiring removed long ago, making the box a useless relic? Or was the wiring taken out after the box was destroyed?
Other questions: Do homes and businesses in that area of Elm Street still have land lines that depend on underground wires? Did the destruction of that box have any effect on their phone service?
Also, do any of these boxes still play a role? If not, will CenturyLink eventually get rid of them all?
And what about this one? Will somebody repair it or take the broken parts away?
It may not be an important matter in the grand scheme of things. But it’s what I wondered about when I saw the wrecked box from the bike on Saturday afternoon. (hh)
The story has been edited to correct the spelling of Qwest.
Hasso: Comcast told me a few years ago they use the old phone wires to send their cable to homes. So, some of those old wires are in use….especially in sections of Albany that still have above-ground wiring with phone poles. There was a wire in back of my house strung from poles going along the back fences of houses on my street and the backyard of houses on a street behind me. Found out that the line going to my house could be taken down and was not in use and was not a “hot” wire. Found that out when someone was trimming my backyard trees. Companies don’t tell you much of what is going on.
Whoever you spoke with at Comcast was blowing smoke up your pant leg. Comcast has always had their own infrastructure and never used Qwest’s pots (plain old telephone service) wires.
Hasso, your tale of picking up the phone and hearing a conversation reminds me of the old party line service my fam had growing up. Think shared service in a neighborhood where you had to wait until one household was done to get a dial tone.
BTW: “Quest” was actually Qwest.
Hj.anony1: (Boy, Hasso’s blogs sure bring you “guys” out of the “word-work” (spelling intentional) who think you know everything about everything…I’m including in the word, “guys,” G. Shradle and Wee Willie K.) I have a Comcast landline (yes, there are such things) that is not an actual landline (since the modem for my laptop has to be working in order for the faux landline to work). So, it is the wiring for my Comcast “faux landline” phone that is using the old phone wires. You will probably deny this, but so be it.
Comcast home phone service or cdv(Comcast Digital Voice) or what ever stupid name they may be calling it now is a voip service that comes through the cable modem/emta. It’s data is transmitted through the coaxial cable the same as your TV or internet data is, to the home. The service can be back fed through out your house if you want to use the phone Jack’s in your home. But Comcast does not use phone lines from the pole to the home.
Hello to All Hasso Bloggers,
My rant has nothing to do with any recent posts.
I want to acknowledge West Albany’s Boys Basketball Team.
They brought home the 4th place finish for 5A.
No word(s) in [un]local paper. All 4-10-24 stories are from the AP.
I missed the opportunity to congratulate the South Albany HS Girls Basketball Team.
They brought home the 5A’s 6th place finish. They were outscored by undefeated Crater in the semi-finial. Cater lthen lost by a point to Silverton in finial. Should have been interesting stories to read.
I always wondered about all of the “political” signs left behind after elections. I think they should have a reasonable amount of time for the candidates to remove them. After that, fine them for every one left.
Might be an old terminal that was spliced through and left the old box instead of doing a flush mount vault or water box. Or someone stole the copper that was exposed. Very good chance that no one is served of of it. The amount of copper based customers is but a fraction of what it once was and the legacy phone companies are actively trying to get a way from copper based services especially pots. Cables that are direct bury will likely never move but I imagine aerial and easily pulled underground in conduit cable will be recovered because it is made of copper and copper is a commodity.
Signed, Anonymous (former tech for centurylink/lumen.used to be qwest. And also comcast.)
Ps. that first comment makes little sense
Thanks a lot for the slam, Big-telafella!!! “The first comment” is not a scientific technical comment. It is in everyday (what used to be everyday, that is) language.
Hasso,
I also see these phone boxes — typically destroyed — all over Corvallis. I hope you can find out more. Please provide a full set of answers if you do, because I myself would like to know what’s going on with these.
Seems like if they are not used, they should be removed by someone (not sure who is responsible).