AT&T waged public relations war on three Illinois cities when they attempted to deploy fiber to local residents. Now two of the three cities involved in that fight have issued 180 day moratoriums, preventing AT&T from deploying "Project Lightspeed", the company's VDSL2/fiber and IPTV network upgrade. Last week we discussed the city of Geneva's decision. Now, according to the Daily Herald, the city of Batavia has followed their lead.

Last week Peter Collins, Information Technologies Manager for Geneva, explained in our forums that the city of Geneva was less concerned with fees, and more concerned with being able to negotiate the placement of utility boxes, and ensuring even deployment of services. As it stands, AT&T is claiming that it does not need to adhere to any franchise agreements, as the video-services it offers are not being provided via traditional coax.

In Batavia, Alderman Alan Wolff is criticizing AT&T for supporting fiber now that they're doing it, when execs called it an "unproven technology" before local leaders when Batavia was proposing it (see video). "Now when it’s their plan, they decide that they don’t have to follow the rules on a level playing field with every other competitor on the market," says Adlerman.