New Street Research Policy Advisor Blair Levin ponders the recent good news about lead-sheathed cable tests.
The EPA continues to investigate whether lead-sheathed telecom cables left in the ground or underwater for years have contaminated the environment, as articles by The Wall Street Journal claimed. AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) say testing results prove fears are overwrought. Both carriers released statements regarding testing that they claim indicates the fears generated earlier this past summer related to poisoning caused by lead in the networks were “overblown,” notes Levin.
He notes the EPA continues to look into the issue, “with a preliminary view that reenforces the telco position, finding that as to one of the areas identified in the WSJ, ‘EPA’s scientific review of the data and current conditions in the area indicate that there are no immediate threats to the health of people nearby.’”
But the EPA also found, “The results do show that some soil samples have lead concentrations above an EPA screening level of 400 parts per million.” These reports “reinforce our view that based on what we know now, the cloud over telcos, including AT&T, Verizon, and Frontier [NASDAQ: FYBR], will linger for a long time but the likelihood of material costs to the telcos is low,” asserts Levin.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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