“Can I hire my own contractor or even cut the wires myself?”

from a previous discussion

“Dear PoPville,

I recently bought a house that had been rented for a while. There are eight phone and TV wires coming into the house, from two different poles. One of the poles also has two wires hanging down and neatly coiled at about waist level. The poles are in front of the house and the whole things just looks like a mess. Is there any way to get the wires cleaned up? Do I have to call Comcast and Verizon? Can I hire my own contractor or even cut the wires myself?”