As the value of copper continues to rise, and as a result, so do copper thefts that cost the broadband industry a significant amount of money.
In an AT&T blog, Rahdeese Alcutt, lead investigator for AT&T global security, noted that the company’s losses due to copper theft exceeded $82 million last year, with more than 7,300 copper theft incidents in California alone, resulting in losses exceeding $54 million.
“In many major metropolitan areas and small towns, copper theit has escalated to levels that can only be described as systemic,” Alcutt writes.
According to Trading Economics, the price of copper has increased by about 33% in the last year, so it is even more attractive to thieves than it once was. Alcutt writes that it’s not just opportunistic individuals, but also organized crime getting involved in the theft of broadband copper wires.
Alcutt noted that, in addition to broadband facilities, other targets of copper thieves are railroads and transit systems, power utilities, HVAC contractors, transportation and roadway infrastructure, city lighting systems, and construction projects.
Those thefts add to other issues of aging copper infrastructure, which Alcutt calls “a challenging but manageable infrastructure problem. Utilities and telecom providers have always addressed aging systems through planned upgrades, maintenance cycles, and capital investment.” Broadband and other targets of copper thieves can’t repair damage as fast as it happens, with some damage going undetected for weeks or months, according to Alcutt.
AT&T is trying to combat the problem through:
- Physical security upgrades
- Closer coordination with law enforcement
- Dedicated investigation and response team
In addition to copper theft, damage is another issue impacting broadband companies. Last year, Charter referred to the damage of its fiber lines in Van Nuys, California and of broadband infrastructure in Missouri as “domestic terrorism.”
