Vandals minimize fiber-optic traces, inflicting outage for Spectrum Web subscribers

Over the previous 20 years, copper theft has emerged as a serious drawback in industries spanning plumbing, phone and Web connectivity, and others counting on the fabric, which is an efficient conductor of electrical energy and as soon as offered at low costs. In 2008, the FBI warned that copper theft threatened all the US infrastructure. In earlier many years, copper was extensively used, partly due to its comparatively low value. As copper costs rose, thieves started stealing it. The abundance of the steel in distant and unsurveilled environments scattered throughout the nation made it a tempting goal for thieves.

In 2015, AT&T reported that the chopping of a 1,200-foot run of fiber line disrupted service, requiring 192 traces to be re-fused. AT&T did not say whether or not the individuals accountable merely wished to disrupt AT&T companies or in the event that they mistakenly believed there was copper within the infrastructure they broken.

Final yr, AT&T stated it was scrapping its copper-based networks and changing them with fiber ones. The corporate cited a number of causes, together with the continuing theft of the steel traces.

In addition to providing the $25,000 reward, Spectrum additionally stated it’s working with police to apprehend the suspects behind the latest incident of vandalism.