NewsContact Denver7

Actions

Lafayette homeowner tells Comcast to buzz off over new fiber optics line

Cable giant says access to backyards is critical
Posted at 5:41 PM, Oct 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-25 21:07:03-04

Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.

LAFAYETTE, Colo. — A homeowner in Lafayette is protesting the Goliath cable company Comcast, and its plan to install a new fiber optics network.

It boils down to private property rights for Andrew O’Connor.

“I looked at the plot map, and they have no record of a (Comcast) easement anywhere,” O’Connor said.

Comcast is installing a new fiber network in O’Connor’s neighborhood, and the cable giant insists it needs to go through O’Connor’s backyard to get the work done.

After several weeks of going back and forth, O'Connor says Comcast hasn't been able to show it has a public utility easement.

"That's how these bullies operate,” O’Connor told Denver7. “This is a greedy corporation, and they're just trying to take advantage of homeowners and trying to run over people that have private property rights."

Comcast says it has an existing franchise agreement with the City of Lafayette that gives it clear authority to access valid rights of way and easements to maintain or upgrade its infrastructure.

But it may have met its match with O’Connor, who appears unwilling to budge.

“They’re just a greedy corporation,” O’Connor said. “They give lousy service, and they overcharge, and people are frankly just sick of Comcast. They’re unethical and I think people need to stand up to them.”