Copper theft has continued to rise in Canada as criminals look to score a quick buck, but Bell is fighting back. The Canadian incumbent telco began installing aerial alarms across its network, with plans to expand deployment to more locations.
The service provider said the alarms are designed to alert local law enforcement as soon as an incident is detected so they can respond quickly, ideally catching vandals in the act, enabling law enforcement to charge the perpetrators with harsher penalties.
On February 26, 2024, an aerial alarm in Fredericton, New Brunswick, successfully notified the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of a cable cut. RCMP quickly dispatched and arrested two suspects during the incident, and charges are still being finalized.
“We're enhancing the security measures to our network – including the installation of aerial alarms – to better protect our critical infrastructure from vandals and hold them to account,” said Marc Duchesne, VP of corporate security and responsibility for Bell in a statement. “We're pleased that these enhancements are already impacting and resulting in local arrests, and we thank the law enforcement agencies that have partnered with us to make this a priority area of intervention."
A growing problem
Copper theft has been a continual problem for Bell.
Since January 2022, the service provider said it has had nearly 1,000 security incidents on its network, with copper theft being responsible for 87% of physical security incidents on Bell's network.
The most impacted regions include Ontario, with 55% of incidents, New Brunswick, with 23%, and Québec with 14%. Each incident takes, on average, 10 to 12 hours to repair, and during this time, customers may not have access to the Internet, TV, and home phone, which impacts their ability to reach emergency services.
With nearly 1,000 physical security incidents on Bell's network since January 2022, copper theft continues to increase and is responsible for 87% of physical security incidents on Bell's network.
The most impacted regions include Ontario, with 55% of incidents, New Brunswick, with 23%, and Québec, with 14%. Each incident takes an average of 10 to 12 hours to repair, and during this time, customers may not have access to the Internet, TV, or home phone. These outages also impact their ability to reach emergency services.
Calling for collaboration
To effectively battle copper theft, Bell has focused on collaborating with local law enforcement and government agencies.
Bell said that while the aerial alarms have helped, the service provider said more could be done to prevent additional copper theft and enforce stricter punishments.
The telco has asked provincial and federal governments to help communications providers improve the resiliency of Canada's telecommunications networks.
Besides enhancing security protocols, Bell emphasized that the “government and law enforcement take decisive, timely action to strengthen laws, increase fines, and amend the Criminal Code, reflecting the essential nature of critical communications infrastructure for the security of this country.”
Bell has asked the provincial and federal governments to join the fight to protect critical infrastructure, increase fines, and implement amendments to the Criminal Code.
Innovative aerial alarms launched across Bell's network, with plans to expand deployment to more locations.
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