Malibu Presses State to Bury Telecom Lines

Telecom companies have long pushed back against undergrounding.

August 2, 2026 · Pacific Palisades

Malibu is asking the governor to crack down on telecom and cable companies that refuse to bury their overhead lines, even as Edison undergrounds its power lines along the same routes, [KBUU is reporting](https://malibu.fm).

Companies like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Crown Castle have ignored local requests to underground their cables. Unlike Southern California Edison, whose undergrounding work is funded by ratepayers, the communications companies aren't required to bury their lines.

The city says the stakes are life-and-death. During the Palisades Fire, fallen telecommunications wires blocked fire trucks from reaching the Big Rock community, and a downed pole cut off access to upper Las Flores Mesa, where two homes burned the following day. During the Woolsey Fire, downed communications lines blocked Kanan Dume Rd. for days.

Malibu wants the governor to explore emergency funding or public-private partnerships to get the lines buried. The city council will debate the letter at Monday night's meeting