MTN permanently shuts down 53 cell towers

Bradley Prior

Bradley Prior

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MTN permanently shuts down 53 cell towers

MTN has said that due to the serious problem of cell tower vandalism, it has permanently shut down 53 of its base stations across the country.

The operator said that while it has recovered stolen batteries to the value of almost R1 million, national cellular networks remain under heavy pressure from thieves and vandals.
 
Daruk said:
Resellers don't care. There are resellers knowingly selling off the grid solutions using these batteries... that said, I tend to agree that they should find a way to permanently mark them in a way that consumers can be aware that they are stolen.
https://m-net.dstv.com/show/carte-blanche/news/do-you-have-a-stolen-deep-cycle-battery/news
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Yup.. resellers and buyers are oblivious.

Personally i think they need to make it destruct post install such that the manufacture has to replace internal parts and re-sleeve/package to make it work. That way you can happily steal it but the battery will be useless.
 
Look im in no way supporting these criminals, but i dont seem to understand why nobody accuses mtn of a crime when they charge people R149 a gig, but now because someone is stealing from them its ruffling everyone's feathers. Think about it, today when you get home your family will be safe and your items not stolen because the criminals are stealing mtn batteries, dont worry about mtn they can replace batteries for years to come over and over, be glad the same criminals are not inside your house when you get home!
 
What annoys me about this is that no-one seems to stop and think of the potential impact on the end user. No tower = hole in grid. That means that there is either weaker signal, or more dropped calls or no signal at all depending on where those towers are and the impact it has on the surrounding area.
 
Bad1 said:
Look im in no way supporting these criminals, but i dont seem to understand why nobody accuses mtn of a crime when they charge people R149 a gig, but now because someone is stealing from them its ruffling everyone's feathers. Think about it, today when you get home your family will be safe and your items not stolen because the criminals are stealing mtn batteries, dont worry about mtn they can replace batteries for years to come over and over, be glad the same criminals are not inside your house when you get home!
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The problem comes in people are happily paying the R149 so its not robbery. What is happening to MTN is robbery
 
This type of damage is not insured, and MTN said the cost to bring a cell tower back online after this type of vandalism can be up to R350 million.
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If I had a R350 mil asset I would have a security guard, wouldn't you??
Surely this figure is wrong

Do these sites not have armed response? I understand out in the middle of nowhere but they mention Tshwane and Johannesburg
 
Bad1 said:
Look im in no way supporting these criminals, but i dont seem to understand why nobody accuses mtn of a crime when they charge people R149 a gig, but now because someone is stealing from them its ruffling everyone's feathers. Think about it, today when you get home your family will be safe and your items not stolen because the criminals are stealing mtn batteries, dont worry about mtn they can replace batteries for years to come over and over, be glad the same criminals are not inside your house when you get home!
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Nobody is accusing them of a crime because they arent forcing you to use their network.
You can vote with your wallet and pick the network that has the price you want to pay.
 
LaraC said:
Crime only pays when there is a willing buyer. :(

#Stopsupportingcriminals
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True.. but this is South Africa, the people buying really don't care and justify to themselves by saying gov / others doing x, y, z so why not. ie. its basically the same stupid logic used in traffic.

By making the battery self destruct on tamper post installation you kill off the industry of re-selling it. Plain and simple.. I really don't understand why they haven't done something like this yet.
 
Bad1 said:
Look im in no way supporting these criminals, but i dont seem to understand why nobody accuses mtn of a crime when they charge people R149 a gig, but now because someone is stealing from them its ruffling everyone's feathers. Think about it, today when you get home your family will be safe and your items not stolen because the criminals are stealing mtn batteries, dont worry about mtn they can replace batteries for years to come over and over, be glad the same criminals are not inside your house when you get home!
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Easy, switch to the competition. You do have a choice here.
 
arguecat.png
 
Fulcrum29 said:
Because it has potential, but in this political climate everything has to be treated with kid’s gloves.
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Human poo also has lots of potential for energy generation. That doesn't mean I would want to spend millions on preventing it from going down the toilet.
 
Bad1 said:
Look im in no way supporting these criminals, but i dont seem to understand why nobody accuses mtn of a crime when they charge people R149 a gig, but now because someone is stealing from them its ruffling everyone's feathers. Think about it, today when you get home your family will be safe and your items not stolen because the criminals are stealing mtn batteries, dont worry about mtn they can replace batteries for years to come over and over, be glad the same criminals are not inside your house when you get home!
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Jesus GIVE IT A FKING REST
 
skimread said:
Can't they engrave their logo in the batteries?
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“But even worse, 53 base stations have been completely destroyed and have had to be terminated nationally – 39 in Tshwane and 15 in Johannesburg.”

Someone please teach mtn to count properly...
 
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