{"id":123932,"date":"2015-04-16T21:54:42","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T19:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=123932"},"modified":"2015-04-16T21:55:56","modified_gmt":"2015-04-16T19:55:56","slug":"how-thieves-are-plundering-sas-telecoms-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/123932-how-thieves-are-plundering-sas-telecoms-networks.html","title":{"rendered":"How thieves are plundering SA’s telecoms networks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theft is one of the biggest challenges faced by South African telecommunications operators. Criminals are not only causing millions in damage, their actions result in\u00a0downtime for consumers.<\/p>\n

Speaking to CNBC Africa, Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said they have major problems with theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lost R60 million this year to\u00a0theft at base stations alone \u2013 people stealing batteries, fuel, and other equipment,\u201d said Joosub.<\/p>\n

Vodacom highlighted that cellular base stations are the only form of connectivity available to many communities, and when criminals target these base stations to steal diesel, batteries, and copper, they cut off thousands of people.<\/p>\n

To combat theft at base stations security is needed, which is costly. To reduce this cost, Joosub is encouraging operators to work together.<\/p>\n

\u201cMobile operators must find ways to work together, which includes working with the police to catch these criminals.”<\/p>\n

Vodacom is also\u00a0piloting a programme that uses hidden tracking technology and other security measures to trace stolen batteries and equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur security team is using helicopters and specialist mobile units to track the stolen items so we can catch and prosecute the thieves as well as anyone knowingly buying stolen equipment,\u201d said Vodacom.<\/p>\n

Eben Albertyn, CTO at MTN South Africa, said MTN experiences an increase in vandalism of transformers and theft of diesel and batteries from network base stations every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cVandalism of masts could have the devastating impact of crippling the network, leaving customers and communities without access to communication services because of extended downtime,\u201d said Albertyn.<\/p>\n

MTN\u00a0spends millions each year replacing\u00a0stolen and vandalised telecoms equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have hired extra security personnel in certain areas where the practice is rife. MTN works closely with law enforcement agencies and community forums to combat these criminal activities.”<\/p>\n

How criminals are damaging telecoms networks<\/h3>\n

A recent presentation on\u00a0mobile network security shows the damage which is caused by criminals (also see:\u00a0How criminals are wrecking South Africa\u2019s telecoms networks<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Breaking<\/a>

Breaking into a contained area<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Base<\/a>

Vodacom base station building damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Container<\/a>

Container damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"A<\/a>

A brick wall cannot stop criminals<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Base<\/a>

Base station container damaged<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Base<\/a>

Base station container damaged<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Base<\/a>

Base station container damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Base<\/a>

Base station container damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Container<\/a>

Container wall broken<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cell<\/a>

Cell C container damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cables<\/a>

Cables cut<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Batteries<\/a>

Batteries stolen<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Base<\/a>

Base station damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cables<\/a>

Cables stolen<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Stolen<\/a>

Stolen batteries<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Equipment<\/a>

Equipment damage and theft<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Damage\"<\/a>

Damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cables<\/a>

Cables cut<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Vandalised<\/a>

Vandalised base station<\/p><\/div>\n

Fixed-line network damage<\/h3>\n

Telkom is particularly hard hit by cable theft. For the year ended 31 March 2014, copper theft cost the company R135 million. This excludes the loss of revenue\u00a0suffered.<\/p>\n

Criminals are stealing many network components – copper cable, optic fibre, solar panels, batteries, diesel, generators, and even wooden poles.<\/p>\n

To fight this theft, Telkom and other operators use information and intelligence gathering, combined with investigative work and securing of the network.<\/p>\n

The company also uses cable alarms and response teams as the crime hot spots evolve.<\/p>\n

Here are some photos which illustrate how criminals are damaging fixed-line networks to get their hands on copper.<\/p>\n

\"Hole<\/a>

Hole to steal cables<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cable<\/a>

Cable damage<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cut<\/a>

Cut cables<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Stolen<\/a>

Stolen cables and manhole covers<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Telkom<\/a>

Telkom stolen cables<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Criminals who steal network equipment cost South African operators well over R100 million per year \u2013 here are some examples of the damage they cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":106137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[29778,27034,21041,35,42,1958,21323,41],"class_list":["post-123932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-base-station-damage","tag-criminals","tag-eben-albertyn","tag-headline","tag-mtn","tag-shameel-joosub","tag-vandalism","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123932"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123990,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123932\/revisions\/123990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}