Canada: CTA calls for stricter measures against copper theft

The Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA) has called for tougher measures to deter the theft of copper cables as related crimes have increased by an estimated 200% each year from 2021 to 2023.

“It’s something we’ve seen over the past couple of years, quite a substantial increase in instances of vandalism and theft affecting telecommunications infrastructure. It’s not restricted to cell towers,” said senior vice-president for the Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA), Eric Smith, as reported by Town and Country Today.

“The target in most cases, is cable copper wire that they want to sell for scrap metal to make money. They’re not really trying to get the fiber (optic) lines, they’re seeking the copper but fiber often gets cut in the course of those activities and obviously, the implications are for the affected community. Depending on what gets cut, it could be phone line outages, Internet outages."