November 22, 2024
The U.S. communications infrastructure is integral to every facet of American life. That’s why the broadband industry is committed to investing billions of dollars every year to provide connectivity across the education, government, health, finance, energy, transportation, and public safety sectors and to millions of households. However, we face a growing threat that undermines the effectiveness of America’s networks.
The increasing demand and market value for copper has made broadband infrastructure a prime target for theft and vandalism. Bad actors are stealing copper from communications lines and selling it to scrap metal dealers. This past summer alone, critical communications infrastructure experienced nearly 4,000 criminal activity incidents.
These acts of theft and vandalism create service disruptions that lead to power outages, delayed business operations, and interruptions to telemedicine, remote learning, and public safety communications. The damage also inflicts millions of dollars of repair and restoration costs on network providers, municipalities, and taxpayers.
In a new whitepaper, USTelecom and other industry associations – NCTA, CTIA, and NTCA – outline how various stakeholders can work together to address this growing problem:
- Scrap metal dealers must uphold ethical and transparent practices to ensure the materials they purchase are not stolen.
- Communications providers are implementing an array of solutions including increasing security measures, preserving evidence of vandalism, directly engaging with state and local governments on solutions, and enhancing relationships with law enforcement.
- State and municipal governments should adopt laws and implement practices to track copper theft and prosecute bad actors.
- Law enforcement must play a crucial role in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting theft and vandalism incidents.
- State legislatures need to examine and update state statutes to ensure comprehensive laws are in place to make damaging critical infrastructure a felony.
With enhanced coordination between industry and government, we can fight back against these malicious actors to safeguard America’s critical communications infrastructure and vital sectors of the U.S. economy.