Copper cable theft renders Telkom shackled in its ability to maintain and improve service levels, it says.
Telkom says it is “greatly concerned” about a pattern that seems to be emerging in Johannesburg's northern suburb of Bromhof, which was this week hit by cable thieves for the second time this month. Over 1 600 business and residential customers' services have been disrupted by the latest incident, says Telkom, impelling the company to once again up security measures in the area.
Theo Hess, Telkom's managing executive for network field services, says cable theft patterns tend to change as criminals are deterred by heightened security measures, but the incidence of what it refers to as a “scourge” remains a “major inhibitor” to the company when it comes to maintaining its network and improving service.
The latest incident occurred on Tuesday when thieves broke through a concrete manhole roof covering and lock to steal Telkom's underground cable infrastructure. Telkom says it has reported the crime and a police investigation is currently under way.
Earlier this month, more than 2 000 Telkom customers in the northern suburb were left without access to telecommunications, due to copper cable theft.
Hess appeals to residents in the area to be on high alert, and report any suspicious activity to Telkom's 24-hour crime hotline number, 0800 124 000.
Telkom says it has commenced a restoration process, which will see services progressively restored, by close of business today. “We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this outage and we assure customers that we are doing all that we can to curb any further cable theft in the area.”
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