NTL Cables on your property

garrettod

Hi

Just wondering, has anyone come home to find NTL have run cables over their property, without permission & if so, what action have they taken or joy have they had when contacting NTL about same ?

In short, NTL have placed cables over our property, without our permission (we are not even subscribers .. got a dish instead) & I want them gone asap.

Dare I ask, if worst comes to worst and I cut the cable, is the electrical current in the cable strong enough to cause me any personal harm etc ? (not my preferred course of action, but looks like NTL are trying to bully me into leaving their cables on my property without my consent etc)

Thanks

bushy...

Just phone them and ask to have the cables removed asap. The cable might be carrying power to run amps etc down the line. They might have access rights from a previous owner if you have moved in there.

mike65

The cable is NTL property so you can be prosecuted.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055134447&referrerid=59211

Mike.

Ulsterman 1690

Yes but its on the OP's property without their permission. Having said that they should contact NTL and give them a reasonable amount of time for them to remove the cable/equipment from his/her property.

They might have access rights from a previous owner if you have moved in there.

Surely the new owner has the right to withdraw permission for the cable to be there.

Most line powered cable TV equipment operates at around 60 volts AC which is still capable of delivering quite a nasty shock

garrettod

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the replies.

It seems to me that as the company did not have my permission to access my property, install their cable etc on it and in the process, damage (granted very limited) my brickwork on my house etc they should not have a leg to stand on.

Any permission the previous owner may have given, does not carry forward to when I bought the property as I see it, particularly as we don't & never did avail of the services.

Guy:Incognito

I assume its the standard cable running under the facia? Does it bother you that much? They most likely will re-route it (which way do they do that assuming the op isnt at the end of the terrace?) . The only people likely to be pissed off are poeple further along your bloack that will lose service for whatever time it takes to do.

what_car

garrettod wrote:

Hi

Just wondering, has anyone come home to find NTL have run cables over their property, without permission & if so, what action have they taken or joy have they had when contacting NTL about same ?

In short, NTL have placed cables over our property, without our permission (we are not even subscribers .. got a dish instead) & I want them gone asap.

Dare I ask, if worst comes to worst and I cut the cable, is the electrical current in the cable strong enough to cause me any personal harm etc ? (not my preferred course of action, but looks like NTL are trying to bully me into leaving their cables on my property without my consent etc)

Thanks

dont damage the cable ,, chill for a second,,;;i had this problem before; don't damage the cable, as it then may go against you..
They the people who put the cable up are guilty of trespass as they entered your property without permission. ( trespass is a criminal matter now i think)

i had a company (same line of business), climb over my garden wall, run a cable down the length of the garden wall, putting footprints in a newly seeded garden, making a total mess out of it ; and i wasnt even using their services..

i tried the softly softly approach first... then i got tired of calling , faxing them with no replies, so i got my solicitor on the case, they were guilty of trespass for financial gain... my solicitor threw the book at them.....

in the end , i got them to remove the cable, ( on a Sunday as it suited me),
the garden reseeded, and £1000 ( the old cash,) for my trouble... and a nice apology letter.... oh yes, and they had to pay my solicitors fees too...

these guys are making money from trespassing on your property, deal with them accordingly, get legal! its the only language they understand...:D

GerardKeating

garrettod wrote:

Any permission the previous owner may have given, does not carry forward to when I bought the property as I see it, particularly as we don't & never did avail of the services.

Actually it can and does.

A previous owner could have given them rights, and those rights pass survive a change of owner. The fact that the previous owner forgot or did not tell you is not NTL's problem.

Caracalla

I had exactly the same problem a few weeks ago (except that I am currently - not much longer - an NTL customer), and posted about it here. I got hold of a supervisor involved in the installation, and demanded that the new cables be removed, and the damage to the house made good. He tried to persuade me to allow them to retain the cable, and I refused. He brought along someone more senior a couple of days later who attempted again to persuade me, and I refused again. The cable, and the support wire installed between my house and a next-door neighbour's, were removed about a week after they had been installed. The old cable will be removed when the analogue service is switched off.

At all times in the conversations, they made it clear that they could not keep the cable there if I objected. While I had guessed that they would try to claim that they had a legal right to install the cable based on some past agreement, on the current outrageous terms and conditions, or on the fact that the old cable had run along the front of the house for many years, they did not attempt to do so. In fact, they explicitly denied that NTL would have any rights at all over my property either as a result of the cable being present or my using their service, when I brought this up as one of the reasons for wanting to be rid of them.

I wouldn't be inclined to rely on this assurance into the future, as it directly contradicts their written terms and conditions, but if this is the position their front line people are taking during the upgrade, it's good news for those of us wanting to be rid of their cables.

I should also mention that there was no threat made that service to our neighbours would be affected. It was made clear that NTL would get past our house by routing the cable out to the street, and that our neighbours would be unaffected.

Finally, I guess one thing to mention is that your new cables may not be live yet, so some of the responses here may be a bit premature. My guess is that it will probably be easier to get them to remove the cables before they go live than afterwards.

Hyzepher

trip over it and they'll be out quick enough to remove it.

com7

i ' ll tell you what ! ye all must have sad lives if thats all that bothers ye ! a bit of cable running between two houses

Ulsterman 1690

GerardKeating wrote:

A previous owner could have given them rights, and those rights pass survive a change of owner. The fact that the previous owner forgot or did not tell you is not NTL's problem.

Unless they have it in writing they dont have a leg to stand on.

Bsides the logic is rather dubious anyway I mean if you invite someone into your house "for a cup of tea" it doesnt give them the right to live in your house for ever after (even after you sell it)

Surion

Hyzepher wrote:

trip over it and they'll be out quick enough to remove it.

Tell you what...this is the first and last answer......:D

I might have seen it happen....;)

XJR

NTL are a useless shower of sh1t€s

I won't bore you with the details but I'll tell you I got so browned off with their rubbish service that I eventually left them and asked them to remove their cabling. They did not do this - to make matters worse they laid new cable.

I cut down the new cable and 24 hours later had a call from the CEOs office. Cut a long story short they wrote off my bill, apologised profusely and told me that when I next wanted digital tv to please contact them.

Only thing they understand is when they had half a neighbourhood without TV etc.

maxg

And what are people saying in your neighbourhood if they get no TV and broadband anymore because your cut the cable.

garrettod

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all the responses, I've spoken to someone I know in the area and it appears this has become common practice with NTL, where they are trespassing over peoples property and installing cables etc without consent through the neighbourhood ....

When challenged (guess they get away with it half the time anyway), they offer the free basic service for life ... woopie !

Oh, for clarity here I'm an end of terrace house with a side wall etc so to make it clear to all of you, they've cut into my side wall, over part of my garden, up the side of my house with some metal cover nailed to my wall and cabled under the Eaves etc.... so it's not just a bit of cable hidden under the roof.

I think a solicitor's letter may be the final solution here, as I want my gaff sorted out and not left with a bit of megal nailed to it, holes in the wall and Eaves etc etc

Thanks again

GerardKeating

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Unless they have it in writing they dont have a leg to stand on.

Bsides the logic is rather dubious anyway I mean if you invite someone into your house "for a cup of tea" it doesnt give them the right to live in your house for ever after (even after you sell it)

Normally ones would not sign a lien on ones property to guests for tea.

If a previouis property owner has sign a lien on the property in favour of NTL, then it is binding on futures owners.

Now with older properties where the lien was to a predicessor of NTL (like Pheonix, Marlin, Cablelink) the chances of the paper still existing are very low.

Guy:Incognito

Hyzepher wrote:

trip over it and they'll be out quick enough to remove it.

While out having a casual walk horizontaly along the facia of your house?

DingDong

Stekelly wrote:

While out having a casual walk horizontaly along the facia of your house?

You've never done that god some people need to get out more

SPDUB

If a previouis property owner has sign a lien on the property in favour of NTL, then it is binding on futures owners.

This is the type of legal document that a solicitor is supposed to find when they do a search on a property you are buying.

You might have a claim against your solicitor for not finding it.:D

Caracalla

garrettod wrote:

Oh, for clarity here I'm an end of terrace house with a side wall etc so to make it clear to all of you, they've cut into my side wall, over part of my garden, up the side of my house with some metal cover nailed to my wall and cabled under the Eaves etc.... so it's not just a bit of cable hidden under the roof.

I think that if NTL had "cut into my side wall" my first port of call might have been the Gardai, complaining about criminal damage.

altered121

Lets all get the Legal end of things correct
* when you buy a property it is NOT the duty of a solicitor to discover
way leave for cable.
* the cable company will have obtained rights to pass along property
by either tenents subscribing to service, the developement company building estate, local authorities etc.

* when you buy a property it is your duty to inform them you do not want cable on property
* the trespass for profit line will NOT hold up in court as reasonable doubt when they had permission but not informed by new owner of change comes into play.

* cutting cables leaves the owner of the property open to legal action under broadcast legislation and older telegraphy based legislation.

lastly I personally doubt any company would offer free for life service,
maybe contractors on a deadline to finsh jobs connect..

lastly whatever concessions cable companies used to offer is not an indication as to how present or future companies will conduct their affairs.

Ulsterman 1690

the cable company will have obtained rights to pass along property
by either tenents subscribing to service, the developement company building estate, local authorities etc.

Ummm they are supposed to

In practice it often doesnt happen

XJR

garrettod wrote:

has anyone come home to find NTL have run cables over their property, without permission

I still reckon the best option is to cut it down as it gets their attention. Yes it's illegal but do you honestly think they will take you to court?

Caracalla

altered121 wrote:

Lets all get the Legal end of things correct
* the cable company will have obtained rights to pass along property
by either tenents subscribing to service, the developement company building estate, local authorities etc.
...

lastly I personally doubt any company would offer free for life service,
maybe contractors on a deadline to finsh jobs connect..

1) I don't see how a tenant can be in a position to give a cable company rights across a property, regardless of what they subscribe to.

2) Going by the angles the current NTL terms and conditions try to cover off, it looks to me like NTL has realised that many residential properties have more than one owner, and has concluded that past acceptance of service by just one owner may not be sufficient to give the company enforcable rights.

3) The most senior NTL employee (not a contractor) I spoke to asked me if NTL might be able to "do something" for me to allow them to retain the new cable on my house. I don't know what the offer was going to be, as I turned him down flat. However, free basic service for life sounds quite plausible to me, as I expect they will have trouble charging much for basic service once a digital terrestrial television service with free to air channels is in place.

4) The legalities don't matter if NTL does not try to enforce whatever rights it purportedly has. It certainly looks like they have not tried to enforce anything on my road, where multiple houses have had NTL's new cables removed.

DingDong

I wouldn't say there's much of a chance of getting free basic for life maybe 6 months but that’s about it. If you have a amp or power supply you will get a concession for as long as it on your home

It always surprising how people don't want a link running across their home's yet will put a dish or antenna in place. I'd say most of the reasons people don't want it, is because of past history with NTL's last than fantastic customer service, or the wrong approach by contractors replacing the system. But what most people don't seem to realise is its no longer NTL its UPC and they are spending a lot on improving every service the company provides(Yes it still needs alot of work). So if you block or have the cables remove you have little to no chance to ever been put on service again. By the looks of thing you will be missing out on future great services(VOD, HD, Interactive, Broadband).

From talking to friends in the US, satellite is kinda a bad word, you only seem to go for it, if that's all you can get. Cable is a far better product there. We can only hope it gets to that level soon.

gerryo

DingDong wrote:

From talking to friends in the US, satellite is kinda a bad word, you only seem to go for it, if that's all you can get. Cable is a far better product there. We can only hope is gets to that levels soon.

Broadcast TV is way different in the US, there is no licence but you get adverts every 5 minutes (or so it seems like).
Cable is the only sane alternative if you like watching more content than adverts in a single hour & are willing to pay for this.

Cable is really expensive to deploy, only makes sense in high population density areas. Satellite works better in lower population density areas.*

Given we are not really a high pop density country, satellite works best here, even if there are no interactive features.

* by that I mean it's easier to install sat system in individual homes rather than apartment blocks.

Solair

I dont mean to be rude here, but, have you really nothing better to do than get totally upset over a bit of coax?

Its really not that big a deal, and their upgraded services will bring a load of new communications possibilities to you and your neighbours.

Dont go cutting down cables that are already in place, thats just vandalism.

There are loads of properties in Ireland, and elsewhere, that have cables running along them. Many terrace houses have electricity cables clipped along front walls. In cities and towns its not unusual for telephone cabling to run along buildings and shopfronts. Its usually not very noticible.

Do you really think it would be justifiable for those people to cut the 220V/380V ESB cables running along and cause a blackout along their terrace?

Or, would it be reasonable for someone to just snip the eircom cabling on the front of a shop disconnecting all of their neighbours?

Personally, I think you need to have a think about the fact that you live in an urban area. If you dont want utility companies running cables on your property consider moving 'off grid'... i.e. a nice house in the back of beyond somwhere where the cable company and all those other annoying things that are part of urban life will not be anywhere near you.

You can get a satellite dish, wireless internet (or if youre lucky enough to be in a really remote spot, satellite internet), drill a nice bore well and generate your own electricity..

I dont mean to rant, but get a bit realistic about urban living. There's a certain amount of sharing that needs to be done.

Cable TV in Ireland origintated as a community driven thing. People wanted to get access to BBC and ITV. The best and most effective way of cabling areas was using cable run house-to-house. Thats where these sytems mostly originate from.

Just think before you go snipping cables!!!


Also, cables can be easily disguised with a little paint to match your house and also having access to cable TV, and cable broadband and all of those new generation cable services could impact on the value of your home and of your neighbours!! May not be a huge deal right now, but in a few years that infrastructure could be key to very high speed broadband..

conax

Solair:
your making some good points there…..but I would suggest cutting back on the coffee a bit….. try decaff

Ulsterman 1690

Theres a bit of a difference between CATV cables and Electricity/Telephone cables

The Electric Telephone (and gas/water) companies have compulsary access powers in law

Cable companies dont (however many people incorrectly assume they do)

Another difference is that the Electric/Telephone companies put most new installs underground. and only run cables across properties for legacy (old) infrastructure or where underground is impractical

Its usually not very noticible.

CATV cables are often quite noticable. How obtrusive depends on how meticulous the installers are about reducing nuisance, damage and visual impact. In many cases its "not very"

DingDong

gerryo wrote:

Cable is really expensive to deploy, only makes sense in high population density areas. Satellite works better in lower population density areas.*

True. Thats why UPC uses MMDS in lower population density areas.

Given we are not really a high pop density country, satellite works best here, even if there are no interactive features.

Not so true. OK if you live out in the sticks satellite is great for you. But alot of the country is getting built up(or already there) . I think in the long run cable is a better product.

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Another difference is that the Electric/Telephone companies put most new installs underground. and only run cables across properties for legacy (old) infrastructure or where underground is impractical

This is the the same for UPC.

CATV cables are often quite noticable. How obtrusive depends on how meticulous the installers are about reducing nuisance, damage and visual impact. In many cases its "not very"

Have you see any of the new upgraded areas?. As long as its just a link it blend in very well to its surrounding IMO.