Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. City & County of San Francisco

Plaintiff, hereinafter referred to as “the telephone company,” brought an action for declaratory relief to establish its claim of a state franchise to construct and maintain telephone lines in the streets in the city and county of San Francisco. The city and county of San Francisco is hereinafter referred to as “the city.”

After trial before the court without a jury, the court found that the construction and maintenance of telephone and telegraph lines on the public streets and other public places located within the city was not a matter of concern to all the people of the State of California,…