American Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Village of Arlington Heights

The question presented by this case is whether municipal governments can extort toll charges or franchise fees for the crossing of public ways. They cannot. The factual context of this case is that AT&T is laying an underground fiber optic cable along an 85-mile line in northern Illinois between Glenview and Rockford. The line is being laid along railroad right-of-way of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (CNW) pursuant to an easement granted by CNW. The cable is designed to carry only long distance telephone communications. Additionally, telecommunications traffic can enter…