Holly Springs, N.C. — New neighborhoods mean new phone and Internet installations, which sometimes entail temporary connections. But a Holly Springs man turned to 5 On Your Side when one connection didn't appear to be temporary.

Craig Marsch first noticed an Embarq cable in October. Hundreds of feet of it stretched from a phone box, across three driveways -- including his -- in front of a playground, around a corner, across another driveway and into another phone box.

"I was, like, 'We got to get this fixed,'" Marsch said, adding that he moves the cable at least one a week to make sure it's out of the way as much as possible.

He called Embarq to find out what it was and when it would go away, and he said he was told someone would come out to remove the cable. When no one did, he made more calls and even stopped an Embarq repairman in the area.

Everyone told him they didn't know what the cable was for or how long it would be there, he said.

"How can you not know what it is? You have it going from one box to another box, so it's obviously a carrier or something. How can they not know what it is?" he said.

More calls got more empty promises, Marsch said.

"They never called us back. They said they would call us back. They said they would send somebody out. I've yet to see anybody out," he said.

Marsh said he is concerned about service and safety.

"I saw two kids playing jump rope with it., three kids playing jump rope with it," he said. "We ended up calling (5 On Your Side) because ... we had enough."

Embarq spokesman Tom Matthews told 5 On Your Side that the cable was meant to be temporary to provide service quickly for a nearby customer. The cable isn't necessary anymore, he said, and it was removed the same day.

Marsch said he is happy the line has finally been removed, but he said he couldn't believe the situation had gone on for so long.

Matthews said it shouldn't have taken so long.