Fixed-line operator Telkom has lost about R863-million between April last year and the end of January this year due to copper cable theft, it said on Monday.

“The increase in copper cable theft is creating an environment of a rapidly deteriorating service quality and is severely affecting the delivery of sustainable information communication technology services to customers. In many high-theft areas, cable is repeatedly stolen, sometimes within days after replacements or repairs,” COO Motlatsi Nzeku said.

Nzeku explained that the direct impact of cable theft included the disruption of essential services, cost of replacements or repairs of the affected infrastructure.

“We are observing a new trend in the deliberately determined cycle of theft. This is damaging businesses, depriving our customers of a basic service and, in some cases, adversely affecting their security,” he continued.

Telkom stated that it had embarked on various interventions to curb the losses as a result of theft, which included proactively alarming critical and sensitive cable routes and employing the services of armed security firms, deploying various wireless technologies as alternatives to copper, assessing vulnerable aerial cable routes and, where feasible, burying these underground.

“Since the start of our campaign to fit vulnerable cable routes with alarms, 157 convictions have been attained out of 1043 arrests. However, copper cable theft is still spiralling out of control and more daring, adventurous and organised methods of theft are being used.”

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