Damn! If AT&T want to put those potential fireballs in people's yards, then they should have to pay for their house insurance too.

And we're absolutely sure there were no FIOS installers within the vicinity at the time of the explosions?

Well I guess we know why Avestor (company that created the batteries) went bankrupt.

Wow, thats a bigger boom boom than Verizon FiOS

Is there a difference between "Lithium-Ion" versus "Lithium-metal-polymer" batteries? If so, this entry's title is a little misleading.

"Insert snarky comment about explosions here"

I'm a U-Verse customer. I hope AT&T's taking steps to ensure this doesn't happen nationwide and is doing so quickly. I like this service too much to see it end up dead because of a faulty hardware failure that AT&T ignores.

I would like to clear up some misconceptions.The 4 pictures captioned "what they look like before they explode" have absolutely no connection to the Uverse boxes. They show various remote facilities which serve fiber distribution and remote switching. All four of these type facilities have been deployed nationwide in both the United states and Canada by all communication providers for at least 30 years. None of the four pictures depict equipment which distributes Uverse. I understand that there are persons who are very upset that the boxes are being placed in front easements; however; is this any different than the electric company sticking a pole in front of your house? All utility companies including ATT are granted right of way to install facilities. Unlike electric, most communication infrastructure in the United States is buried.The easements are usually the same as the ones for natural gas, cable television, sewer and water etc. The homeowner does not own the easement per se'. This is not someone's yard.It appears ATT is doing the right thing here and replacing every battery in its system.

Blame Kevin Mitnick! They did back in the 1990's.

I agree with the post by CALVINNEAL. A U-Verse box was installed near my home in December and is not any of the four pictured, all but the fourth photo are clearly older equipment.

Putting things in easements is one thing, but the AT&T UVerse boxes are HUGE! Here's a pic of the actual AT&T box which exploded in Houston:

Compared to that thing, a power pole is minimal. I understand that the utilities need to deploy equipment here & there, but that's not what the original purpose of easements were. If I were this homeowner, I would want rent from AT&T for the space, visual blight and reduced property value that box causes.

AT&T just deployed the white boxes all over my neighborhood. They are terrible eyesores. Graffitti magnets.

Usually when people buy a piece of property the entities which have easements on it have already done their thing. E.g: laid the sidewalk, put in the pipes and wires, etc., so the issue never crosses their mind. Ergo, people are often rudely surprised when the holder of an easement comes onto their property long after they've settled in.

Property owners should take a hard look at the lot survey and title documents before they buy. If there's an easement, and a major disturbance or alteration of that area would pose a problem, think twice. Easement holders, especially 800-pound gorillas like public utilities, can have a lot of leeway as to how they exercise their rights.

@dvddesign: Explosions and shit catching on fire tend to be sort of hard to ignore. ;) (Though AT&T did their level-best to try and not have to replace the batteries...)