Homeowners are responsible for maintenance of many things, including things subject to assorted laws and regulations. Indeed, they can be subjected to FCC enforcement action simply for turning on an common store-bought electrical device, such as a fan or TV.
Sure, but those things don't require digging up wires blocks away from your home. Or mounting up on a telephone pole to fix a downed line, as would be the case with my home.
HOAs often manage such things. Or, where sanity intervenes, local government. The real point is that private entities shouldn't have control of basic infrastructure.
