SUMMARY + VIDEOS + PHOTOS
Summary: The Fiber Trenching Issue
Unregulated & Duplicative Digging
Multiple telecom companies are competing for market share by installing their own separate fiber lines. This has led to repeated, large-scale excavations in residential front-yard easements, with no coordination and no limits.
Beyond the Original Intent of Easements
Private utility easements were created to provide essential services such as water, sewer, electricity, and telephone. They were never intended to permit unlimited competitive trenching. Current use imposes an unreasonable burden on property owners and stretches these easements far beyond their original purpose.
Shift from Public to Private Land
AT&T has already used the public right-of-way. With that space saturated, Metronet and others are trenching directly through private residential easements — just steps from driveways, sidewalks, and foundations.
No Limits or Regulation
County officials have confirmed: “Any communication company registered in Florida can install fiber optics in an area.” That means:
No cap on the number of companies.
No timeframe for completion.
No requirement for notice, transparency, or resident input.
Lack of Resident Awareness & Oversight
Most residents have little idea what is happening in their yards. Flyers sent by companies provide no detail on the scope, frequency, or impacts of the work. Meanwhile, no County process ensures oversight or accountability.
Unstudied Cumulative Impacts
Trenches are typically 6 feet long, 3.5–4 feet deep, and 1 foot wide. Residents have already endured 4–6 trenches per yard in a single month. The cumulative impact of such repeated excavation in small residential lots — on soil stability, driveways, sidewalks, and underground utilities — has never been studied.
Urgent Legal & Policy Concern
Companies are moving faster than County oversight. Without immediate action, unlimited trenching could continue indefinitely, overburdening private easements beyond their legal intent and imposing unreasonable disruption on property owners.
Community Position
Call to Action: Pause further trenching in private residential easements until impacts are studied and clear, enforceable limits are established.
Reasonable Broadband Expansion: Residents support fiber deployment when it is guided by:
Fair limits on private easement use.
Coordinated “Dig Once” policies that prevent redundant disruption.
Transparency and oversight that protect homeowners.
The videos and photos below show MetroNet’s installation work in the private easement areas of residents’ front yards. Trenches are now being placed directly in front yards because AT&T has already used the public right of way. Note that the area they are trenching is the beginning of the private easements, and with each new fiber company’s installation that trenching will continue upward into resident’s yards moving closer to their home and disrupting soil, root systems and infrastructure.
While this footage reflects only one small neighborhood, it highlights the broader, countywide pattern of duplicative trenching by multiple providers - a small-scale example of the larger, streetwide and roadwide disruptions taking place across the county.
Video #1: MetroNet Fiber Installation in Orange County Neighborhoods
This video shows large trenches being dug in the private easement areas of residents’ front yards — not in the public right of way, which was already trenched by AT&T just a month earlier. Each trench measures about 6 feet long, 4 feet deep, and 1 foot wide.
Note that the area they are trenching is the beginning of the private easements, and with each new fiber company’s installation that trenching will continue upward into resident’s yards moving closer to their home and disrupting soil, root systems and infrastructure.
The work is dangerously close to trees, driveways, and, on smaller lots, the homes themselves. With each new company, future digging will move even closer to houses and infrastructure, increasing the risk of property damage.
This is just a small-scale example of the larger, streetwide and roadwide disruptions taking place across the county.
These repeated excavations go beyond the intended use of utility easements, placing an excessive burden on homeowners. Clear regulation is needed to ensure broadband expansion proceeds responsibly and fairly.
Video #2 of MetroNet Fiber Optic Installation in Orange County Neighborhoods
Resident footage documenting fiber trenching activity in an Orange County neighborhood — a small-scale example of the larger, streetwide and roadwide disruptions taking place across the county.
Note that the areas they are trenching are the beginning of homeowner’s private easements, and with each new fiber company’s installation that trenching will continue upward into resident’s yards moving closer to their home and disrupting soil, root systems and infrastructure.
