Telkom cable thieves cause major disruption to thousands

[jes]

Telkom cable thieves cause major disruption to thousands

Copper cable thieves have targeted a large Telkom exchange, leaving thousands of residential, corporate, business and medical customers without service

 

[Pienats]

So... is it a 0860 number or a 0800 number?

And is this call center better staffed than normal client call centers?

 

[MickeyD]

So... is it a 0860 number or a 0800 number?

And is this call center better staffed than normal client call centers?

0800 ... it's an external call-centre operated by one of the largest auditing companies in SA.

 

[reactor_sa]

If I see these chops I will fling poo on site! Stupid useless **** heads! It's just too bad they can't get electrocuted by Telkom lines.

 

[Paul Hjul]

with this sort of operation how much of the exercise is to get the copper for scrap and how much of it is to hold the country ransom

 

[koeksGHT]

I don't understand why Telkom does not replace the routes with fibre when they do steal the cables.

It seems like a good opportunity to upgrade, even if its only small sections, it's a start...

 

[MickeyD]

I don't understand why Telkom does not replace the routes with fibre when they do steal the cables.

It seems like a good opportunity to upgrade, even if its only small sections, it's a start...

Different technologies... looks like main 'access' cables that were cut. These run from the exchange to street distribution cabinets and then onwards to your house.

If they were to replace it with fibre then all the linked equipment in the exchange as well as the SDCs would also have to be replaced.

 

[Milano]

Approximately how much will they get for the 363m?

 

[Sinbad]

Approximately how much will they get for the 363m?

Doesn't seem to factor into things. We had a bunch of wild grass stolen from.our garden...

 

[BouncyNinja]

Deleted

 

[BouncyNinja]

with this sort of operation how much of the exercise is to get the copper for scrap and how much of it is to hold the country ransom

Its fairly easy to extract the copper , just make a big fire, and chuck in cable, the insulation burns away, and you left with copper ,

Source:
I work for a scrap recycling group, these thugs try sell by us, we send them packing with a tip off to the cops

 

[BouncyNinja]

Approximately how much will they get for the 363m?

If cleaned, around R70 a kilo, depending on where they sell it

 

[MickeyD]

Approximately how much will they get for the 363m?

11 cables, so let's say it's 33 metres per cable that each looks like this:

 

[koeksGHT]

Different technologies... looks like main 'access' cables that were cut. These run from the exchange to street distribution cabinets and then onwards to your house.

If they were to replace it with fibre then all the linked equipment in the exchange as well as the SDCs would also have to be replaced.

Its not a start? Seems wasteful to replace and not upgrade. And Telkom wants ftth lol

 

[MickeyD]

Its not a start? Seems wasteful to replace and not upgrade. And Telkom wants ftth lol

The majority of cable theft is not in areas where fibre will EVER be installed.

If it was an economically viable area, then there are plenty of other factors to be taken into account, e.g. you cannot buy the required equipment off the shelf - some of it has a lead time of around 4 months. How would you feel if you had no service for 4/5 months?

 

[Paul Hjul]

I assume in unviable areas the case for mandatory FLLA is quite strong

 

[MickeyD]

I assume in unviable areas the case for mandatory FLLA is quite strong

iirc the work on the 3 strike principle...

 

[RyanPCMR]

The problem is when you spot these cable thieves, they might just look like ordinary municipal workers doing routine maintenance. It gets even tougher to spot these thieves if the local municipality have outsourced the routine maintenance work to an outside SME or company then these thieves can just as well look like workers from that company that does these maintenance work on behalf of the municipality.

Only wish there are ways for ordinary citizens to spot these fraudsters on sight without reporting a legit company or service provider.

 

[Paul Hjul]

iirc the work on the 3 strike principle...

That principle should apply for imposition of a death penalty on cable thieves with the later two strikes being optional.

 

[MickeyD]

The problem is when you spot these cable thieves, they might just look like ordinary municipal workers doing routine maintenance. It gets even tougher to spot these thieves if the local municipality have outsourced the routine maintenance work to an outside SME or company then these thieves can just as well look like workers from that company that does these maintenance work on behalf of the municipality.

Only wish there are ways for ordinary citizens to spot these fraudsters on sight without reporting a legit company or service provider.

All service providers working on a Telkom network must have signs poted indicating that they are authorised to do so, including a contact number for confirmation purposes...