Latest in a string of copper wire thefts and attempted thefts from telecommunications companies across Canada
Copper theft caused a Telus outage in Calgary’s Ogden neighbourhood Monday morning, and as of Wednesday, issues could remain.
Telus confirmed the cause of the outage was copper theft, and that the incident caused “severe damage” to Telus cables in and around Ogden.
The start time of the incident is listed as 11:13 a.m. on Monday. An emailed statement from Telus says issues were resolved Monday morning, though its website posted an updated Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. stating there is no estimated time for service restoration.
Landline phones were impacted, which the telecommunications company says would have affected 911 calls. TV and internet services are also impacted. Telus says wireless services are unaffected, and suggests using a cell phone to stay connected during emergencies.
Telus said it partners with local police, and has invested in security cameras, specialized locks and fencing to combat copper theft.
If perpetrators of copper theft are caught, they are typically charged with theft under $5,000, “which is the same as stealing a bicycle,” said Eric Smith, senior vice-president of the Canadian Telecommunications Association.
Smith said these types of crimes have much more serious ramifications.
“It impacts critical telecommunications infrastructure that supports emergency services, hospitals, government, financial services and, really, just people’s day-to-day life,” he said.
“In the U.S., it’s actually considered terrorism, because you’re damaging telecommunications . . . a little stronger language there. We’d like to see something that sort of matches the ‘life safety’ impact of it,” said Brian Lakey, vice-president of the Reliability Centre of Excellence.
In a call to action, the Canadian Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee noted that January saw a 100 per cent increase in incidents year-over-year, with a 49 per cent increase in outage duration.
— With files from Steven Wilhelm