311 Call Logs & Emergency Permits
311 Service Calls in Austin
This analysis reviews how staff with the City of Austin categorized 311 calls and emails initiated by residents where the call or email referenced “Google” or “Google Fiber.” The focus of this study is on the metadata generated by city staff categorization of these calls and emails – this report does not seek to substantiate any specific complaint made by any individual resident.
From 2015-2021, the City of Austin recorded more than 1,406 individual calls and emails that reference “Google” or “Google Fiber.” The number of transcripts with references to Google Fiber has increased 127% since 2019.
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OPERATOR: Austin 311, this is Ebony. What can I do for you today?
CALLER: Hey Ebony. Could I get the phone number for Google Fiber, um, like the technical support— not technical support— they came and laid fiber down in my neighborhood two weeks ago.
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OPERATOR: Austin 311, this is Kiera, how may I assist you today?
CALLER: Uh hi, um, there’s people installing Google Fiber in front of my house…
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OPERATOR: Buenas tardes y gracias por llamar al Austin 311. Yo me llamo Armando. Como le puedo ayudar?
CALLER: Armando? Alparecer hable hace momento hacia alla. El hombre que me atendio, el me dijo que hablara al 311 y preguntara qien, que compania fue la que trabajo en el lugar donde yo tengo el problema. Yo lo que mire aqui alparecer son los que anduvieron poniendo el cable del internet.
OPERATOR: Entonces parece que continuamos aqui. Le voy a comunicar con Google Fiber para que pueda poner la queja.
English translation:
OPERATOR: Good afternoon and thank you for calling Austin 311. My name is Armando. How can I help you?
CALLER: Armando? Apparently I called you all over there a moment ago. The man who assisted me told me to call 311 and ask who, what company was the one that worked in the location where I have the problem. What I see here apparently is that it was the ones who have been laying the internet cable.
OPERATOR: So it looks like we can continue. I am going to connect you with Google Fiber, so that you can make the complaint.
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OPERATOR: Austin 311, my name is Joseph, how may I help you?
CALLER: Hey, Joseph. I'm not sure which department I need to speak to, but um, Google Fiber came through and was laying new lines.
From 2015-2021, the City of Austin recorded more than 1,406 individual calls and emails that reference “Google” or “Google Fiber.” The number of transcripts with references to Google Fiber has increased 127% since 2019.
City of Austin 311 Calls Referencing “Google” or “Google Fiber” (2019-2021)
When 311 service calls, which includes emails, are received by the City of Austin, they are assigned issue categories by city staff. Of the 1,406 Google Fiber service calls obtained from City of Austin public information requests, 99.2% were categorized as “Make Complaint”:
City of Austin Issue Categories for Google Fiber 311 Service Calls (2015-2021)
Once categorized as a complaint, city staff receiving the information further classified service calls into more specific, and often multiple, subcategories. For example, a single 311 service record may include both “Contractor Misconduct” and “Cleanup” as subcategories. Still, the chart below helps shed light on some of the more prevalent subcategories logged by city staff:
City of Austin Google Fiber 311 Service Complaints (2015-2021)
City of Austin 311 Logs Classified as "Utility Strike/Damage"
Utility Strike/Damage
Of the 1,406 records for 311 reviewed in this analysis, one out of every eight (184) was categorized as “Utility Strike/Damage.”
According to the data, City of Austin 311 Service Logs referencing “Utility Strike/Damage” peaked with 51 Utility Strike/Damage service logs in 2016, but increased 380% from 2018 to 2021.
City of Austin 311 Service Logs Categorized as “Utility Strike/Damage” (2015-2021)
An analysis of the City of Austin 311 service logs reveals that, while many calls and emails categorized by the city as “Utility Strike/Damage” do not include a description, others do.
Content found in each 311 service log categorized as “Utility Strike/Damage” was reviewed, and the bar graph below illustrates some of the more prevalent references:
“Utility Strike/Damage” City of Austin 311 Service Log Word References (2015-2021)
It should also be noted that references to “water” include the word “water main,” and “water pipe,” and references to “gas” include references to “gas line.”
City of Austin Emergency Permits: 2020-2021
In Section 5 of the City of Austin Utilities Criteria Manual,”Working in Public Rights-of-Way,” the term “Emergency Operations” is defined as “operations or repairs of facilities to prevent imminent harm to the health, safety, or welfare of persons or property.” A review of 2020 and 2021 Franchised Utility permits reveals that there were 289 individual permit records where Google Fiber Texas was the project applicant, and the permit references an emergency. While Emergency Permits pulled by Google Fiber contractors varied in their content, more than one stated that the purpose of the permit was “to replace a broken fiber line right now there is a temporary line on the ground that someone can trip over or a car can run over and damage their vehicle.” Information regarding emergency permits is not made publicly available by the City of San Antonio.