Bell Aliant announced that internet and home phone services were disrupted for customers in Fosterville, New Brunswick, due to a copper cable theft. The issue was resolved nearly five hours later, according to a company statement on Thursday.
This incident adds to the growing problem of copper theft affecting telecom companies. Bell Aliant has recently filed a lawsuit against Stuart McCann, who is criminally charged with copper wire theft. The lawsuit claims that McCann’s actions led to a 12-hour service disruption for about 1,000 customers in the Fredericton area. Bell is also targeting McCann’s alleged co-conspirators, including scrap metal businesses suspected of purchasing the stolen copper.
Since January 2022, Bell’s network has experienced over 420 security incidents, 75% of which being copper theft, said the company back in June.
The most affected regions include Ontario, accounting for 46% of incidents, followed by New Brunswick with 24%, and Québec with 17%. These incidents have resulted in millions in damages and hundreds of hours of service interruptions, says Bell.
Bell previously said it is urging provincial and federal governments to take action, including amending the Criminal Code and increasing fines, to help improve the resiliency of its networks. The company stated that existing security measures and local law enforcement support have not been sufficient deterrents against copper theft.
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I wouldn’t treat this as a common theft. The damage is much greater than the monetary value of the stolen copper wire. In some countries acts like that fall under a more serious legal category, endangering public safety, and are prosecuted much more severely.