Very often when someone is upgrading their data and communications at their home there are previously installed lines for other services that they no longer want connected to their home. Often this comes down to two categories. The first would be a long time hatred of the company whos line is attached to your home or the other might be that they just don’t like the messy look of these cables. Whatever the reason there are some things that a home owner should know before they just go out with wire cutters and start doing the work themselves.
First thing you need to know is that the wires are legally the property of the company that installed them. From the telephone pole to your house and then down to their demarcation device that might be a box on the outside of your home or just inside your home those wires belong to the company in question. Normally there is a splitter for Cable TV or a special splitter for the telephone equipment depending on the service you have. The reason these cables and devices are considered the company’s equipment is in the best interest of the customer because if anything happens up to that point then the company fixes it for free. Any wires in your home that run to each room are considered the customers and they are your responsibility to maintain. With this in mind you can’t just cut the wires back to the telephone pole and not tell anyone and expect it ends there.
These wires are low voltage and although you probably won’t get a big shock from them if you cut them and do not terminate them a variety of problems could occur for other people in your area that are still using them to get service. If what you do to the company lines effects other customers then you can expect that you will have a lot of angry neighbors and you will be getting a substantial bill. However even if what you do doesn’t cause damage then there are a number of real reasons that you either want to keep these lines attached to your home or only have a company representative come out and remove them.
The wires themself don’t pose any real problems for you and even if they were hit by lightning they are normally grounded and they are of a small gauge wire so they should likely melt if any higher amperage was forced through them. If they are a problem because of their position on your property and maybe they block you pulling your camper into your driveway or something like that then you can call customer service and they will remove them a bit quicker than the normal route.
Additionally whether it is your family’s needs in the future or maybe if you sell your home there are reasons to keep the wires to your home. In some areas such as in New Jersey, Texas and a growing number of other states if you needed to have POTS regular copper phone lines installed the phone company won’t offer you this service and you just can’t get it. If the wires are installed then you have a better chance that they will still reinstate service even if the account is closed. Cable TV is the same situation. Many people move companies to upgrade with fiber but then the old company does not upgrade. The only way to get service is over coax and if you have the lines removed they might not want to reinstall them because the company is in the process of upgrading to fiber. I strongly suggest that you just leave them in place until the company that owns them decides to remove them or the service is no longer offered over those lines.
Getting Cable And Phone Lines Removed From Your House
With all of that said if you really need to or wish to get rid of these lines then it is a pretty simple process to get your cable and phone lines removed.
First you should know which company owns the lines. This is pretty simple if the previous owner tells you or if you are the one that set up the accounts.
You need to call their Service Department and tell them that you need a Truck sent to your location to remove service lines to your home. If you have a local office in your area this process will go much better if you visit them directly and wait to talk with an actual Service Department Representative. You don’t want to talk with an account representative if you don’t have active service at this time you want to talk with the foreman or a representative that handles distribution line installs and repairs.
They will give you a time and date that they will come to your home and may require access to your home if any equipment is located inside your home. If no equipment is located inside or if they decide to abandon it in your home then they will cut the wire from your house and back to the pole without you needing to be home.
Just like any other visit from the cable or phone company this process might be delayed or they might change dates or miss appointments. Don’t get aggravated about this. The reason for this is normally that the repairs that they are doing on customers that come before you are taking extra time. Its just like any time at work when something you normally do ends up taking much longer because of reasons out of your hands. Also you are asking them to remove service that you aren’t using at this time anyway so its not an emergency. If it is an actual emergency they will normally send someone out immediately but don’t play that game.
Normally the cost of removing service lines from homes is free for the home owner.
Final Note
Normally these unused lines don’t cause a problem for the home owner and there is no real safety reason to remove them. There are some reasons to keep them in place such as keeping your ability to restart services which might be a benefit if you are trying to get a lower price from a different company and for resale of your home it just makes sense to keep them in place. Also remember that 911 service is still available on most phone lines that aren’t active (meaning you can still call 911 but nothing else) which may be important if your VOIP provider doesn’t offer 911 service.
If you really want to get rid of them then call the company that owns them and schedule them to come out and remove them. It might take a couple tries but eventually they will get it done. Remember you are not as high a priority as someone that has problems with their active service.