Copper theft disrupts Internet and phone access in parts of Calgary

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About 15,000 Shaw customers in north Calgary were left without internet, TV or phone service after an attempted copper theft early Monday, prompting calls for more curbs in response to what is being described as a growing problem across Canada.

According to the show's 1 p.m. update, technicians were at the site of the broken cable for much of Monday, working to restore service as quickly as possible.

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“As outages of this magnitude take longer to repair, we will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available,” the update said.

In an emailed statement, Shaw said the outage will affect some customers in north Calgary, including parts of Mount Pleasant, Tuxedo Park and Crescent Heights.

According to previous information provided on the show's service outage page, crews determined the outage was caused by a fiber cut during a copper theft attempt.

“Repairing a damaged fiber network can typically take 8 to 12 hours,” the update said.

Rogers and Shaw have seen a four- to five-fold increase in outages due to vandalism since 2022. Rogers became Shaw's parent company last year.

The statement also noted that outages caused by vandalism can take three to four times longer to repair than any other type of outage, depending on the extent of the damage and associated maintenance.

“Several technical teams are on site and working to restore services as quickly as possible. We apologize to our affected customers for the inconvenience and will keep them updated on our progress,” the statement said.

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Shaw also said the telecommunications company reported the incident to authorities, but the Calgary Police Service did not respond to Postmedia's questions Monday afternoon.

Telecom copper theft 'huge rise': industry expert

In addition, a man and woman are facing criminal charges after a telecommunications wire was stolen earlier this year, leaving more than 2,000 Calgarians without internet or phone service.

Eric Smith, senior vice-president of the Canadian Telecommunications Association, said: “Criminals are looking to make money by stealing copper from telecommunications infrastructure and selling it as scrap metal.

“Over the last couple of years, we've seen a big increase (in theft) because of the increase in copper prices,” Smith said. “It's going to cause millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure across Canada.”

Although there is no central registry of copper theft, Smith said many of their members are seeing a multifold increase in vandalism related to copper theft.

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According to Ross Johnson, a security consultant for critical electrical infrastructure in Canada, copper theft cases can often be traced back not only to the price of copper, but also to economic conditions.

“If unemployment is high and the economy is bad, you're going to see pressure on copper,” said Johnson, founder of Bridgehead Security Consulting Inc.

In terms of dealing with copper theft and theft of other metals, Johnson called this approach a “full court press.”

“You have to come at it from different perspectives.”

One thing he noted is that telecommunications and electrical equipment can be marked with a company logo in some way so that recycling facilities know where it came from.

“This means that if any of your labeled items show up at a recycler that you don't have a contract with, by definition it could be stolen.”

Liaison with law enforcement agencies is also important, he said, to ensure that those caught are properly punished.

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Smith echoed this sentiment, saying: “We call on the government to strengthen the penalties under the Criminal Code.”

“Right now, typically if someone gets caught, they're charged with theft under $5,000 — the same as stealing a bike,” Smith said.

According to Smith, the purpose of having a strong deterrent is to send a message to criminals that theft is not worth the risk. He also noted that much of the industry is investing in improving the security of critical network facilities.

“It's a matter of reliability and safety, and frankly, it's expensive,” Johnson said.

“You can steal $10 worth of copper from a telecommunications yard or a power station, and it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace it properly.”

Earlier this year, Bell announced the installation of aerial alarms for its network that provide real-time warnings of infrastructure breaches and copper theft.

With files from The Canadian Press and Postmedia

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